Spring Break
Lacrosse player balances SJSU classes with work
John Kim
Daily Staff Writer
- Page 1 of 1
|
While the National Lacrosse League has been in business since the late 1980s, the 2004 season is the inaugural season for the San Jose franchise. Similarly, Rosyski is himself new to the Bay Area.
Rosyski played four years with the Albany Attack, until it was sold in 2003 and relocated to San Jose. Rosyski followed the team, moving to San Jose on Dec. 27.
A native of Toronto, Rosyki is trim and compact at 5 feet 8 inches tall. While a slight Canadian accent indicates his geographic origins, his appearance belies his age.
"It's a bit weird," Rosyski admitted. "I'm taking first-year courses, so I'm a fair bit older than the kids in my class, but everyone's been fine and friendly. I don't think anyone's caught on that I'm eight, nine years older than the rest."
Rosyski said he is attending school full time this semester, concentrating for now on getting his general education courses out of the way. He goes to class Monday through Thursday and practices with the team just once a week.
The National Lacrosse League's regular season lasts 16 weeks, starting in late December and ending in April. Games are played on weekends.
"Instead of having seven days to do your work, I have four days," Rosyski said. "I have to have everything done Monday to Thursday and have it out of my way for the weekend because once I leave on a road trip, that's my main focus - it's playing that game."
In addition to doing laundry and lugging equipment during road trips, Rosyski said that training was also the responsibility of the individual team member.
"We're working with a fitness facility in San Jose," he said. "We're given programs at the beginning of the year, and it's up to us to do it on our own, so we try to get into the gym during the week as much as we can."
About his newly adopted city, he said, "I love San Jose. You can't complain with the weather."
He pointed out that it wasn't just the great weather that makes him want to stay. When he visited the area last year, he made time to include a trip to SJSU.
"I took a walk around campus, and at that time I was thinking about either trying to get a job down here or go back to school, and it just made more sense to go back to school. I had the opportunity," he said.
It is a plan for the future, he said. While he wants to play for as long as he can, he also admitted, "The money's not anything you can live off, so there is going to be a time where I have to fall back on something, and that's why I'm here."
It is that kind of drive, said Jim Moss, a defenseman for the Stealth who was recently voted into the National Lacrosse League's Western Division all-star team, that has set Rosyski apart and made him a leader on the team. Moss said he had known Rosyski since they were "8 or 10 years old," and he praised his old friend for bringing a sense of consistency, both on and off the field.
"He's always been a hard worker, and now he's stopped, changed lanes and gone back to school," Moss said. "He's a good role model for some of our younger players."
Moss said players on the Stealth team have expressed interest in following in Rosyski's footsteps.
"He's paving the way for other players to come down and go to school," he said. "Some of the guys that just come here for the season, they're here anywhere from four to six months, and that's plenty of time to get some credits taken care of."
One such player who is considering following Rosyski's example is Chris White, a defenseman in his second year with the team.
White is quick to characterize Rosyski as a "small and feisty" player who possesses "a knack for putting the ball in the net." But just as quickly, he calls Rosyski a reliable friend who is always willing to help out his teammates.
He said that he and Rosyski had discussed application deadlines at SJSU during a recent grocery shopping trip.
"It's good to see somebody who wants to further himself," White said.
Tim Fry, a defenseman from Australia, called Rosyski an aggressive and tenacious athlete and one of the team's undisputed leaders. He said that Rosyski's enrolling in school was a form of leadership, as it demonstrated the importance of maintaining balance in one's life.
"He's not the most vocal person on the team, but he leads by example," he said.
Discussing his teammates, Rosyski said that the San Jose Stealth team is composed of players from all walks of life, some of whom live in different parts of North America.
"We have guys that play for us and live in Toronto and have jobs, and they fly in for games. A lot of cities basically run their teams that way. One of the guys works for the head of the team office. We have a lot of rookies that just came into the league that are just trying to do work here and there. Then we have guys that are from the Bay Area that all work, so there's a real mix," he said.
While Rosyski observes that there is no awareness of the San Jose Stealth organization in the South Bay, let alone the SJSU campus, he is hopeful for the future.
"There are a few markets in the league now that are just incredible, and I could see San Jose being one of them. It's going to take a while, and it's going to take some trial and error," he said.
He cited marketing efforts undertaken by the team that were intended to increase the visibility of the Stealth team, including advertising on radio and on the sides of 1,500 buses throughout the Bay Area, as well as players making promotional appearances at schools and shopping malls.
He reported that home games were averaging 7,000 fans. A game on March 20 against Vancouver is to be aired on TV's Fox Sports Net.
"It's good start," he said.
