Laurier Grads Soar is a multi-part series that returns for it's fifth installment for the 2020-21 academic year. The segment features former Wilfrid Laurier University athletes and student-leaders in the Athletics and Recreation Department, and the success they have enjoyed since leaving Laurier. Written by award-winning journalist David Grossman, different features will be released throughout the year that will emphasize the role Athletics and Recreation played in helping them achieve success.

Alena Luciani: Owner, Training 2XL

It was sort of like a magnet for Alena Luciani.

Far more meaningful than just academics and sport, what pulled her to Wilfrid Laurier University was family. When she graduated it was, again, family – a new family of friends for life.

Unlike most teenagers, about to graduate from high school and unclear of the next step, Luciani had everything lined up.

A talented basketball player and three-time Athlete of the Year at Holy Trinity High in Oakville, Luciani benefitted from a year of prep school in Sheffield, Mass. – a three-hour drive west of Boston.

Whether it was for the experience, maybe test the scenery for possible athletic scholarships, Luciani knew she would be entrenched in excellence at Laurier.

All she had to do was examine the family tradition.

Luciani would become the seventh member of her family, that included siblings and cousins to play sport, and attend classes at Laurier. While it's not clear that Laurier has historical data to track ancestry, it still is quite an accomplishment and reveals an infatuation to the centre for higher education.

"I was familiar with the campus, went to see family members play (sports) for Laurier," she said. "Being there so much, it made me feel like home. The campus atmosphere was electric and very lifting. I just knew it, and the course of studies, was the right fit for me."

For Luciani, delivering on the basketball court was something that she thought, back in those early teenage years, would trigger accolades and attention. A leader on and off the hardwood, Luciani was chosen basketball Rookie of the Year in 2009/2010 and was on Laurier teams that made it to four Ontario University Athletics (OUA) playoffs.

But it became apparent that she was not in the pantheon of the best athletes on the planet.

The defining image, and the most salient moment of Luciani's time at Laurier may have had nothing to do with her role as a varsity athlete. It was her contribution to other athletes. Building on a platform of knowledge in physical fitness, and entrenched in excellence, Luciani had the ability to see the bigger picture.

She knew about Laurier's reputation in the world of academia, and would go on to earn a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Kinesiology. It would be something that motivated her to a career that would involve making others improved, and in many cases exceptional athletes, and become better in physical fitness.

"It was nearing the end of my final year at Laurier, that I was approached to offer up my ideas on developing a program of strength and conditioning for the Golden Hawks varsity teams," she recalled. "What I was asked to do meant so much to me."

Her suggestions, in a proposal to Peter Baxter, Director of Athletics and Recreation, were so appealing, that Luciani was appointed Laurier's Head Strength and Conditioning Coach. It was a position of responsibility that she would assume for two years.

Power and stability mixed with a modification of practice and training would become part of an ambitious and imposing program mandated for all varsity athletes. What she was doing would stand for something much bigger, and far greater, than playing in a basketball game.

"My experience at Laurier was something I will cherish for the rest of my life," she said. "Small campus, big heart. Being there were some of the best days of my life. Many of the people that I met, have become friends forever. I am sure people have heard it before, and it's true – it's the Golden Hawk family."

Luciani went back to school and attended Ohio University, where she earned a Master's Degree in Recreation and Sports Sciences, Coaching Education. It was the finishing touch, in professional development, that led to entrepreneurship.

Obsessed over physical fitness, and now able to embrace her own accomplishments with a classy personality, Luciani is the creative mind behind Training 2XL – an on-line and in person business helping athletes excel in sport and in life, increase performance, and minimize injury.

-END-

David Grossman is a multi award-winning communicator and storyteller with a distinguished career in Broadcasting, Journalism and Public Relations in Sport and Government Relations. In 2018, he was the recipient of Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Media Member of Distinction. 

2016-17 Features
Steve Griggs - Chief Executive Officer and President, Tampa Bay Lightning
Sophie Kotsopoulos - Senior Director of Integrated Marketing, National Hockey League
Mike McKenna - Former Director, Telecom, Media and Technology Investment Banking
Nicole Lee - Director of Integrated Marketing, National Hockey League
Mike Bartlett - Executive Director, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Foundation
Rebecca Watts - Manager, 2017 World Junior Hockey Championship
Hugh Lawson - Director of Business Development, Staples Promotional Products
Cheryl Pounder - Former Canadian National Women's Hockey Team Member
John Morris - 2010 Olympic Men's Curling Gold Medalist
Bill Burke - Chief Executive Officer and Owner, Niagara Ice Dogs

2017-18 Features
Tania Pedron - Manager of Administration and Operations, Maple Leafs Sport and Entertainment
Wayne Kemick - BMO Wealth Advisor
Denise Burke - President, Niagara Ice Dogs
Kevin McDonald - Vice President of Football Operations and Player Safety, CFL
Dr. Megan Yaraskavitch - Neurologist
Andrew Agro - Director of Corporate Sponsorship and Business Development, New York Jets
Marcia Powers-Dunlop - Senior Manager of Professional Support Services, Toronto District School Board
Joe Vernon - Lawyer, Miller Canfield
Emily Rudow - Founder, Oneiric Hockey
Todd Cooney - Vice President and Broker, CBRE Limited
Jennifer Elliott - Sports Information Officer, uOttawa Gee-Gees
Rohan  Thompson - Social Worker and Professor, Conestoga College
Dr. Fiona Aiston - Family Doctor
Jeremy Hedges - Founder and President, Inksmith
Sadie Anderson - Firefighter
Andrea Elliott - Sports Information Specialist, Ryerson Rams
Alyssa Lagonia - Professional Soccer Player

2018-19 Features
Ashley Stephenson - Teacher and member of Canada's national women's baseball program
J.R. Edwards - General Manager/Country Director, Carlsberg USA
Ginger Whitney - Vice President, Whitney and Company Realty Limited
Sandy Nixon - Loopstra Nixon law firm
Christina Polano - Lawyer
Donnie Ruiz - CFL alum, artist, personal trainer, and award-winning body builder
Jahmeeks Beckford - Support Worker, Carizon Family and Community Services
Melanie Witzell - Founder and Agency Director, Mad Hatter Technology
Eric Calder - Owner and President, Skills Plus Hockey
Ryan MacDonald - Strength and Conditioning Coach, Volleyball Canada National Beach Team

2019-20 Features
Chrissy McEwan - Account Executive, Detroit Pistons
Ian Noble - Lawyer
Tamika Marks-Grant - Marketing & Branding, Canadian Olympic Committee
Dean Boles - Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technical Officer, Swim Ontario
Andrew Quattrin -  Professional Rugby Player, Toronto Arrows
Scott Driscoll - NHL Official
Steve Bienkowski - Chief Operating Officer, Kitchener Rangers

2020-21 Features
Pat Langdon - Executive Managing Director, Newmark Canada
Cassandra Mensah - Education Fellow, National Women's Law Center
Allister Scorgie - Director of Sport Hosting, Region of Waterloo