Jozalyn Rejniak is a pretty good sport.
It’s always the way she’s been.
Rejniak is a junior at the Arts Academy at Benjamin Rush High School, and pretty much since she’s been old enough to walk, she’s been competing in sports.
It started with soccer. But quickly the Fox Chase native branched out to other sports, and she pretty much does it all at Rush.
It all started when she was a kid.
“I started playing soccer when I was 3, mostly because my family was always a very sports-oriented family,” said Rejniak, who plays soccer, softball and flag football at Rush, where she also ran indoor track. “My parents loved sports, they still do and when I was younger, my brother Logan always played sports. He played soccer, so I grew up watching him and playing with him and then when I was old enough, I started playing by myself.
“I love sports, my whole family is really into it, and I think it’s mostly because of the environment surrounding sports and being on teams brings. It’s a great way to make new friends, be active. It’s really made me happy overall and keeps me active.”
Staying active isn’t a problem Rejniak typically runs into.
When she’s not playing sports, she keeps busy as a visual art major, where she loves to create new things.
“As a visual arts major, I love to create art in my free time, so I’m usually either doing that or with my friends when I’m not playing sports,” Rejniak said. “I love to draw, I love to use colored pencils. I love color, things with a lot of vibrancy to them. I love to draw. I just love to create things like that.”
She’s also creative in sports.
Rejniak, who is also a club soccer player, can play pretty much anywhere on the field for Rush, but she typically patrols the midfield, where she loves to settle the ball down and get her teammates involved.
But she’s pretty good at putting the ball in the net. In fact, though only a junior, nobody has scored more goals for the school in team history.
Rejniak netted her 46th career goal in Rush’s first game of the season, which ties the school record.
This was after she scored 21 goals during her rookie season with Rush, and added 24 during her sophomore season to put her right on the doorstep of making the record.
And while she was very excited to get her name in the Rush record books, she refuses to take the credit.
This was a team effort.
“It means a lot to me, making a mark in my community really means a lot to me and it means a lot to celebrate it with my teammates and my family,” Rejniak said. “Initially I joined the team hoping to create a sense of community. I never realized how much I could impact the school. I didn’t realize how close the record was.
“Coming into the season, that was a goal. It wasn’t my biggest goal. My biggest goal is to have fun. That’s why we play sports. I like working together with my teammates. We want to win, but it’s not the main thing. The main thing is building friendships and bonds.”
She’s helped build those feelings from the second she stepped on Rush’s pitch.
And now that she’s an upperclassmen, she’s proud that she can start to take on the leadership role that will only help her team when they’re playing early in the season.
“My biggest goal this year was for the team,” Rejniak said. “To be surrounded by great teammates and have a fun season with them. The biggest priority is to appreciate my team and have a great rest of the season where we have fun no matter what the score is. We want to have fun.
“I love that my team feels like a family. There are teams that could be a great team, but they’re divided. Even when we don’t win, we feel like a family and everyone is included. It’s such a welcoming environment. It makes me happy going to practice and games and I’m going to be surrounded by people I love. I am very proud of the community we built around the team.”
Her other favorite teammates are her family, which includes siblings Logan, 23, Kirstyn, 15, and Justin, 13.
“Logan played baseball, hockey and soccer, he went to Lower Moreland,” Rejniak said. “Kirstyn played volleyball, she’s now at St. Hubert. And Justin plays soccer, hockey and lacrosse, he goes to Baldi.
“Sports is a big part of my family. It’s helped me a lot. It’s definitely made me a better teammate and I think that makes me a better player. Being a good teammate is the most important thing you can do.” ••
