Ruby Czajkowski, a 2023 graduate of West Hartford’s Conard High School, is about to begin her senior year of college lacrosse and is playing internationally in Sweden.

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer

For Ruby Czajkowski the game of lacrosse is a metaphor for life … and vice versa.

From her start on the grass and dirt lacrosse fields of West Hartford, to the turf at McKee Stadium at Conard High School playing for coach Meg Cersosimo, to the carpet-like turf fields of Farquhar Fields at the University of Redlands in Southern California, the snowy sessions in Sweden, and a World Championship in the Czech Republic, it’s allowed her learn about passion, and loss, about effort and reward.

Like life itself, lacrosse has always provided the 21-year-old with opportunities to succeed – or fail – to learn, to grow, to define herself, to surround herself with teammates who become friends, with coaches who become mentors, and to test her mettle against players she saw as more skilled.

When she returns to campus and the team for her senior season this year it will be bittersweet. “I have so much love for this sport and to really feel I am going into my last season it is scary but I have gained so much gratitude at Redlands,” she said. “Everything has taught me to love my sport again and again.”

That love she speaks of is the result of taking chances, exploring opportunities of putting in hard work and of allowing all those experiences to become the person she is. “It’s almost like closing a chapter, you know that this is the end of it.”

So how did she end up packing her hopes and dreams and heading off to the West Coast to go to a DIII University that sits about 3,000 miles from West Hartford? “I knew I wanted to play lax in California and DI was probably not going to happen,” she said with a laugh. “I started looking at the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – the only DIII conference in the Golden State. I sent emails to each coach and the Redlands head coach – Suzette Sobotti – reached back out to me and she told me she wanted me to be a part of the team and made it seem like this was home.”

That was the athletic side of things; the education side also presented a unique opportunity, another chance to challenge herself and create a plan for her future. The school allows students to take part in a self-designed major through its College of Arts and Sciences and the Johnston Center for Integrative Study. “The school and mentorship is letting me change what I study and make it all on my own. I could not have asked for a better education support staff,” Czajkowski said. She has designed a major that revolves around the entertainment industry and marketing that she hopes will lead her to a position in marketing or brand partnerships in the movie industry in the future.  After all, the Redlands campus is just an hour drive from LA.

“You have to pick somewhere that is gonna let you be yourself and grow into yourself,” she said. “I only saw myself as a lacrosse player but when I picked the school I had to think through situations where lax could not be in the cards anymore.”

Relying on the lessons she had learned, the effort she had put in, and the desire to keep growing as a player and leader, she  started in 14 of the 17 games she played in for the Bulldogs in her freshman season. She finished with 39 goals (two game winners) and totaling 50 points as the team’s third leading scorer. A bigger lesson was learned after that successful first season when the head coach who recruited her stepped aside.

“It’s been a weird journey. We lost head coach (Sobotti) last season but our assistant, Sean Hansen, stepped up.”

It was decision time for Czajkowski and her teammates – stay with the program and keep building – or look for a new place to play. She chose to stay and her sophomore season became her most successful one on the field. Starting every one of the team’s 18 games, she scored a whopping 47 goals and added 20 assists to be the Bulldogs leading scorer. Last year, as a junior, she appeared in 15 games but still scored 23 goals and added 18 assists as the team’s second leading scorer. Her play earned her a spot on the All-Conference Second Team.

In their season finale she scored three goals in a semifinal loss in the SCIAC playoffs to No. 2 seed Claremont. The Bulldogs finished third in the regular season in their conference at 5-5, but two of the losses came to Pomona-Pitzer – who were undefeated in league play, and ranked No. 6 in the nation in D III.

She carries collegiate totals of 109 college goals at Redlands and 158 total points. But more importantly, she has continued to build relationships, to build friendships, and to add more tools for her game plan in life. “Every year it seems Bulldog lacrosse is growing and growing,” the 5-7 attack/midfield player said. Eleven other girls came in with me and there are only four left, but it’s been a great time. We’ve been competing at a level I never expected from us. Everybody is dedicated and loves the sport and that brought us far this season. I am proud to be a Bulldog, my teammates are my best friends now.”

The journey to her senior season has also seen her get a playing opportunity she never dreamed she’d have. Less than a month after graduating from Conard in 2023, the teen and her family were jetting off to Prague, Czechia (Czech Republic) for the European Lacrosse Federation Under-21 Championship. Czajkowski’s paternal grandmother is Swedish, allowing her to join the first ever Under-21 Lacrosse Team for the Scandinavian nation. She has continued playing with the team as the schedule has allowed, and she said she has seen the team grow, and at the same time let her pursue personal and athletic goals.

“We (Sweden) are fully competing for the Olympics – haven’t made it there yet. To be an Olympian I would need citizenship so that’s why after school I am going to start looking into validating my citizenship. It’s something I want to be a part of the rest of my life,” she said. “Lacrosse  in college will end and I will keep playing with Sweden. That’s my last landline after this year at Redlands.”

It’s also allowed her to learn about where her family came from and allow her to add to the lineage. “I wanted to stay connected to that and my Swedish heritage.”

Czajkowski was one of the team captains in her junior year and will serve as one again as a senior. It is a role she takes seriously, and one she said she had to grow into by learning from others, and finding her place. “I feel it is my responsibility to carry the leadership into the season,” she said. “All I am working this summer is talking to new freshman and the other players to see what we want to be and what we want our culture to be. We have eight incoming freshman that I have talked to and I am excited to get them involved into our traditions.”

She will be balancing that role with finishing her degree and looking for a job that will help her transition into the next stage of her life. “The job market and the financial situation is scary out there. Adulthood is scary,” she admitted, “But I’ve gotten to the point where I am really confident in myself and Redlands has supported that journey for me. I’ve done my research and I am ready to be a dog out there – like on the field – put myself at the table, find the seat and push myself.”

And all the lessons she’s learned in lacrosse – from the grass and dirt fields of West Hartford to the carpet-like turf at Farquhar Fields in California, the teammates she’s surrounded herself with, the teachers and mentors that have guided – have allowed her to gain confidence and reach a comfort level she will always carry.

“I feel comfortable being a leader and I want to take that into my  career now,” she said. “In tough situations on the field it is really conflict resolution, being able to bring it down and bring out the best in people. I feel it is a skill I am really getting my hands on and I think it is gonna help me be a good employee.”

Like what you see here? Click here to subscribe to We-Ha’s newsletter so you’ll always be in the know about what’s happening in West Hartford! Click the blue button below to become a supporter of We-Ha.com and our efforts to continue producing quality journalism.