FISHERS — At 10 years old, Cooper Doepke has already been playing competitive hockey for several years. While he’s been on elite teams since he was 6, it was still a surprise to Cooper and his family when he was selected to travel to Eastern Europe to compete in a youth tournament.
Cooper, who lives in Greenfield, traveled to Slovenia as part of the elite youth hockey program CCM Selects.
According to CCM Select’s website, more than 80 of the program’s players have received NCAA hockey scholarships since its founding in 2005, and 16 players have been drafted into the National Hockey League. CCM holds selective tournaments for young hockey players, both male and female, around the world.
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Cooper has competed in previous CCM tournaments in Chicago and Toronto, and this year was chosen to compete in the CCM Euro Invite in Bled, Slovenia. In this tournament, players born in the years 2005 through 2008 competed with counterparts from around the world.
“They find kids really from around the country and compile a team of kids from different regions,” Cooper’s father, Chris Doepke, said. “And if you do well, you get invited back.”
Cooper said he was excited to have the opportunity to compete in the tournament and to travel to Slovenia with his parents. Chris said that although families have to pay their own way to participate in the tournament, the experience was worth it for their family.
“It’s an opportunity that most kids don’t have the opportunity to take part in. Being a hockey player myself as a kid, I never had such opportunities, so of course, like most parents, I want to provide opportunities for the kids that I did not have when I was younger,” Chris said.
Cooper and his parents spent eight days in Slovenia and enjoyed sightseeing with the CCM team as well as competing in the tournament.
“We got to do a lot of stuff, like looking at waterfalls, we went to a castle and climbed a mountain,” Cooper said.
Cooper said he couldn’t choose a favorite part of the trip.
“I liked all of it,” he said. “I can’t pick.”
The American team played eight games in the tournament, winning seven. The teammates had not played together before, but came in third place out of 10 teams. Cooper, who plays as a center and wing, said he scored “quite a bit.”
Cooper began playing hockey when he was 3 years old and currently plays for a local team in Fishers.
Cooper said he hopes to pursue playing hockey as a career, but for now his goal is to visit every NHL rink. He’s been to several so far, including the home rink of his favorite team, the Chicago Blackhawks.
Chris said he was proud to see his son competing on the international level and impressed by how well the American team held up, especially against countries like Canada and Russia, famous for their hockey cultures.
“We learned that you never know what you’re going to see when you play overseas, especially against countries that are supposed to be hockey powerhouses. Really, what you find out is that we play hockey, for the most part, just like the rest of the world. The skill set was very comparable,” Chris said.
