THEO HOOKER OF COLORADO COLLEGE, a senior goalkeeper on the Tigers' men's soccer team, has been selected the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Character and Community Male Student Athlete of the Week for the week beginning October 23, 2017.
The SCAC honors the efforts of student-athletes who excel in the field of athletics, and also serve their campus and community.
During the last three years, CC’s senior co-captain has been relentless in his quest to make positive contributions on the soccer pitch, in the community as well as in the classroom.
Working with numbers and equations that intimidate most people comes naturally for the mathematical economics major from Albuquerque, N.M.
Despite the challenge of balancing the academic challenges inherent with CC’s rigorous block plan with the demands of competing for the nationally-competitive soccer program, Hooker boasts an impressive 3.557 grade-point average.
In addition to his efforts in the classroom, Hooker served as a research assistant in the college’s Economics and Business Department, co-leading a group of students who studied the viability of character traits in determining the success of wide receivers in the National Football League.
His academic performance helped Hooker earn Scholar All-America honors from the United Soccer Coaches as a junior as well as a spot on the SCAC Academic Honor Roll during each of his first three years of eligibility.
Hooker’s penchant for impressive numbers carried over the soccer pitch where it seems like statistics would have been a more appropriate major for CC’s four-year starting goalkeeper.
With at least three games remaining in his final season, Hooker already ranks fifth in program history with 195 saves, second with a 0.63 career goals-against average and first with 50 career victories and 34 shutouts.
This season, the three-time SCAC Defensive Player of the Week ranks 41st in Division III and leads SCAC with a 0.66 goals-against average. He also is tied for first in the conference with eight shutouts, which ties him for 13th nationally.
Hooker’s list of career soccer honors is as impressive as it is long. As a freshman, he was voted the SCAC Newcomer of the Year as well as a second-team all-conference selection. After his sophomore season, he was named to the second team for the second year in a row.
Last year, he earned first-team All-America honors from the United Soccer Coaches and also was a first-team all-SCAC selection.
While Hooker is well known for his exploits on the pitch, he also is widely recognized on campus and in the Colorado Springs community.
He has been an active member of the college’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and served as a resident advisor for one year.
In 2016, Hooker completed a Public Interest Fellowship at Groundwork Denver, where he helped develop local agriculture to make lower income communities more sustainable. He also collected data that led to supply-chain improvements that could reduce costs by as much as $.60 per unit.
At the conclusion of the fellowship, Hooker presented his findings to the organization’s leadership and made the business case for a more efficient social enterprise.
Hooker currently volunteers with Colorado Springs Food Rescue, which utilizes a direct redistribution model in which surplus food from local supermarkets and cafeterias is delivered to nonprofit and community-driven programs for distribution.
Energized by his community service efforts, Hooker enrolled in Professor Mark Smith’s environmental economics class earlier this semester. After exploring climate change and its implications, Hooker decided to make that the focus of his career path after graduating in May.
Hooker currently is working through application process for a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, a one-year grant for purposeful, independent exploration outside the United States, awarded to graduating seniors nominated by one of 40 partner colleges.
He plans to investigate how the countries of England, India, the Netherlands, Spain and Tanzania are reimagining their food system with a relationship to environmental and economic sustainability.