Spring Break
Finland native takes spotlight on URI ice
Brandon Gearing
Issue date: 12/4/08 Section: Sports
12/04/08 - Freshman Johanna Leskinen has been to 20 countries and more than 100 cities in her life, but now she's on the ice playing for the University of Rhode Island women's hockey team.
The Finland native spent nine years living with her family in Germany, but has also been to Thailand, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, France, Greece, Croatia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Russia and Estonia, just to name a few. She also said her favorite vacation spot is Mauritius, a tiny island east of Madagascar.
"I love to travel," Leskinen said.
While living in Germany, Leskinen attended an international school. She had friends from many different cultures and has had American friends since the seventh grade.
With this in mind, it comes as no surprise that Leskinen left Finland to come to school in the United States.
"I've always known that I wanted to study in a different language," said Leskinen, who currently speaks Finnish, Swedish, German and English.
She began looking for schools on the East Coast of the United States, focusing on both academics and hockey.
"I stumbled across URI and sent coach [Beth] McCann an e-mail," Leskinen said. "She told me about the program and got me really excited to come here."
Women's hockey is a club sport at URI, so Leskinen could not be recruited or offered a scholarship.
She originally started as a figure skater at 5 years old, but when her brother wanted to try out for a hockey team, she decided to follow that path.
She began playing in Germany for a boy's team when she was 9 years old and it wasn't until her family moved back to Finland that she played on a women's team.
She was also involved in tennis and golf, but eventually settled on playing only hockey. Leskinen said adjusting to life on campus has not been very difficult because of her ability to adapt well to new situations.
She has had no trouble fitting into her role on the women's hockey team either. She is the starting forward and leads the team in assists with 18 she's also second on the team in goals (11), points (29) and power play goals (4).
The Finland native spent nine years living with her family in Germany, but has also been to Thailand, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, France, Greece, Croatia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Russia and Estonia, just to name a few. She also said her favorite vacation spot is Mauritius, a tiny island east of Madagascar.
"I love to travel," Leskinen said.
While living in Germany, Leskinen attended an international school. She had friends from many different cultures and has had American friends since the seventh grade.
With this in mind, it comes as no surprise that Leskinen left Finland to come to school in the United States.
"I've always known that I wanted to study in a different language," said Leskinen, who currently speaks Finnish, Swedish, German and English.
She began looking for schools on the East Coast of the United States, focusing on both academics and hockey.
"I stumbled across URI and sent coach [Beth] McCann an e-mail," Leskinen said. "She told me about the program and got me really excited to come here."
Women's hockey is a club sport at URI, so Leskinen could not be recruited or offered a scholarship.
She originally started as a figure skater at 5 years old, but when her brother wanted to try out for a hockey team, she decided to follow that path.
She began playing in Germany for a boy's team when she was 9 years old and it wasn't until her family moved back to Finland that she played on a women's team.
She was also involved in tennis and golf, but eventually settled on playing only hockey. Leskinen said adjusting to life on campus has not been very difficult because of her ability to adapt well to new situations.
She has had no trouble fitting into her role on the women's hockey team either. She is the starting forward and leads the team in assists with 18 she's also second on the team in goals (11), points (29) and power play goals (4).
