Growing up, a lot of kids dream of one day playing a sport at a high level. Usually, they have one sport in mind. For Cooper Lukenda, his love of two sports resulted in him becoming a dual-sport athlete at the NCAA (DIII) university level.
The 21-year-old got into hockey just as most Canadian kids do – by getting on skates before he could even walk.
“My dad played and my older brother played too. My sister and mom were figure skaters. It was kind of destiny that I'd be on skates,” he said.
Lukenda was born in Sault Ste. Marie but moved to Wisconsin at age 12. He has since moved back, and is attending school at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, where he plays for both the hockey and golf teams.
“My hockey career has been a little hectic with a lot of ups and downs so far. I started from youth hockey in the Sault, then when I moved to Wisconsin I played a few years of youth hockey there as well. When I was 14, I was presented with the opportunity to move away from home to attend a hockey prep school in Minnesota called Shattuck-St. Mary’s,” Lukenda said. “I was pretty excited since that was the school that a lot of famous hockey players went to like Sydney Crosby, Nate McKinnon and Zach Parise. It was hard but an awesome life experience that I wouldn’t trade for anything. I played hockey there from Grade 10 through graduation.”
After high school, Lukenda received the opportunity to play hockey for Lake Superior State University. After just over a year, he decided to try to find something that was a better fit for him and his athletic goals. He left LSSU in November of 2017 to play for the Kemptville 73’s, a Jr. A team in the CCHL. After that, Lukenda played in the North American Hockey League (NAHL), for the Johnstown Tomahawks.
“That was a really enjoyable year for me. I found a home after that at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota where I have been playing since,” he said.
Lukenda started playing golf a bit later than he did hockey, but quickly grew to love the game just as much.
“I started playing golf when I was around 10-12 years old. I got into it the same way I got into most things, I followed in the footsteps of my dad and my brother. It quickly became an obsession of mine and I would do anything to try to get better,” he said. “The thing I enjoy most about it is the same thing I enjoy most about being a goalie. If you make a mistake, there is no one to blame but yourself. You have to accept the mistakes and step up to the next shot as if nothing happened.”
Lukenda ended up playing both sports for St. Olaf College after his goalie partner put him in contact with St. Olaf’s golf coach. He was put through a tryout and eventually made the team. “It just kind of organically happened and I was blessed that both my coaches allowed me to do this,” he said.
He says that keeping up with sports and studies can definitely be a struggle, but he tries his best to find a balance and take advantage of free time.
“The hardest part is the mental aspect. It’s very easy to get sidetracked mentally or start falling down a bad path of negative thoughts with all of the “pressure” of school and sports, but being able to shake that off or find help if you need it is important,” he said.
Lukenda says he’s proud of himself for making the decision to leave LSSU and find a better place for himself.
“It was a big accomplishment and extended my career,” he said. “For golf, it was just a hobby, and to get to the level to be able to play NCAA golf was big for me.”
Regarding his upcoming year of school, he just hopes that the sports seasons will resume at all, and if they do, he has goals to help his team win as many games as they can. On the golf side, he hopes to help his team stay competitive and eventually win their conference tournament for a chance to play in the national championship.