Rostowsky's Perseverance Transcends Sports

Blows to the head had disrupted the soccer career of West Hartford’s Rebecca Rostowsky once too often. They were now casting a dark shadow on many key facets of her life.

Rostowsky was good enough at her sport to earn a scholarship to Fairfield University. Countless hours from the time she was five were spent refining her skills, defining her on-field personality that would carry her to success.

But this was beyond her control. At first, the graduate wrote her string of concussions off as minor injuries, but the one she sustained during her freshman college season was devastating. They symptoms were getting worse.

Meanwhile, the public was discovering that concussions are serious injuries that can affect the rest of a person’s life if not treated properly. In Rostowsky’s case, doctors strongly suggested that she cease playing soccer. Her parents agreed.

She could have gone off in a corner to brood and wallow in a pool of self-pity, but her mind doesn’t work that way.

She yearned to challenge herself, the way she had always challenged herself. Her thoughts turned to lacrosse, a sport introduced to her by a Hall High history teacher. She wasted little time in seeking out Fairfield women’s lacrosse coach Mike Waldvogel to see if he’d giver her a chance, and he’s glad he did.

Rebecca Rostowsky, now a graduate student at Fairfield, is his captain.

“It’s incredible her making the change,” Waldvogel said. “She just takes it in stride. She just come out and plays.”

The intrinsic qualities that made Rostowsky such a dynamic soccer player made the transition possible. She plays aggressively and has the capacity to lead.

“She’s a very good athlete,” Waldvogel said. “The problem initially because she hadn’t been playing lacrosse was that her stickwork was rusty. The footwork and the toughness she had.”

Lacrosse was barely a thought as she went through her freshman year at Hall High School, but she was drawn toward it as a springtime diversion.

“Other girls I knew played and I thought I would do it for fun,” Rostowsky said. “I played my sophomore and junior year and quit. It was just one of those fun things. I didn’t really love it by any means. It was the first time I’d ever picked up a stick.”

The college recruiting period for her soccer future was far too demanding to be playing another sport. She sustained her first concussion toward the end of her junior year and others came in its wake.

“I never took them seriously,” she said. “I never knew what a concussion could out. I went out and played and would get another.”

The effects proliferated with each relapse. Reading was particularly stressful, resulting in nausea.

“I was home for awhile, just sitting around,” she said. “They told me I couldn’t watch TV or text message. I had to take midterms for freshman year in the summer going into my sophomore year. I had to get tutors. My memory wasn’t as clear.

“Reading was the hardest. I’d read something and have no idea what I just read. After a certain amount of pages, I’d get dizzy.”

Doctors told her that she needed to rest mentally as well as physically. Just because the headaches diminished did not signal a return to the playing field.

“I shouldn’t have been reading or going to school,” Rostowsky said. “It’s like having a bruise on your brain. You may physically feel better but the brain needs a mental rest and I didn’t do that the first three or four times. I felt the repercussions when trying to read or talk without slurring words, or I’d stand up and everything would go black.”

She was caught in a mental tug-of-war between a lifetime of love for soccer and prospects for a healthy future. She thought about her grandmother, an athlete in her day who suffers from brain damage.

“I had conversations back and forth with doctors,” Rostowsky said. “You love soccer but you need your brain to function for a long time. Feeling the symptoms, it became more serious in my mind.

“But at the same time, it didn’t hit me for a month that I was losing something I worked so hard for. I knew I couldn’t go back to school without having something to work at every single day.”

Rostowsky is the Stags’ leader on defense. She appeared in 30 games her first two seasons, starting in 13. She’s picked up 21 ground balls – proof of the aggressive approach that has been her hallmark. She has also recorded nine draw controls and forced three turnovers.

“She’s not the rah-rah type,” Waldvogel said. “Her leadership is her play. She’s always going 100 percent. That’s what earned her the captaincy even though she hasn’t been with the program all four years. The fact that she came back during grad school is a great asset for us.”