Burrell junior shares love of hockey with Kenyan kids on mission trip to Africa

John Lukac has a burning passion for hockey and an equal desire to help people.

He recently got the chance to incorporate both on a special journey that he will remember for a lifetime.

Lukac, a junior at Burrell, volunteered for a 12-day mission to Kenya last month with the Grant Victor Cares and Koins for Kenya foundations.

While he was there, Lukac taught kids in three villages in the Rabai Province of Kenya the game of hockey.

“I’ve been playing hockey for 11 years now, and it’s really been 50% of my life,” Lukac said. “Hockey is part of what keeps me going. We needed to teach the kids something, and as soon I heard that, I knew I wanted it to be hockey. I wanted to share my love of the sport with kids who would never have the opportunity to try it.”

During the mission, he helped finish and open a new school and break ground for construction of another school.

Lukac plays hockey for Burrell and the Pittsburgh Predators 16U club team.

He took 17 sticks and some hockey balls with him to Kenya and created a 25-minute lesson plan to give the kids a basic understanding of the game.

Lukac said the kids understood and spoke some English, which allowed them to pick up the basics quickly.

“They took it in pretty well,” Lukac said. “I brought my Rollerblades and skated around, and they were laughing and so ecstatic to watch and play. At each village, I had someone volunteer to defend me. I’d play keep away from them, and every time you’d bring the ball around them, they’d go wild. They loved it so much.”

While Lukac was there to teach, he also gained some knowledge from the kids. They taught him some of the Swahili language and invited him to play soccer.

Lukac also was invited on a two-day safari, and he got to see lions, elephants, cheetahs, cape buffalo and other animals of the African desert.

The entire trip was an eye-opening experience. Seeing some of the conditions and not having the typical amenities such as cell service that are taken for granted in America gave Lukac perspective.

He was impressed with the attitude and spirit of the kids.

“You drive around, and there’s kids as young as 8 herding 25 goats and sheep along the side of the road in mud hut villages,” Lukac said. “When they played soccer, there’d be 300 kids playing with one ball. When the ball was kicked, everyone would run after it and some would fall, but they’d just get up and keep going. They’d just laugh and smile. The entire time I was there, I only saw two kids cry, and they were infants.”

Lukac connected with many of the kids in the villages, but with the lack of internet and cell service in Kenya, he likely won’t be able to contact them.

So he plans on returning to continue to provide help.

“I made a lot of friends that I’d like to see again,” Lukac said. “We got initiated in as villagers and got tribe names. My tribe name is Amir. They presented us with a chicken as a sign of respect. It was a big ceremony and was something they took very seriously.”