Lacrosse
Favorite athlete: DeVonta Smith
Favorite team: Philadelphia Eagles
Favorite memory competing in sports: Being a part of the first Council Rock North team to win a playoff game back in my freshman year, in 2023. Shout out to Sam Lewis.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Impaling myself in the stomach with my stick, after missing a check in youth lacrosse.
Music on playlist: Anything Country (Florida Georgia Line, Zac Brown, Zach Bryan, Hudson Westbrooke, and Luke Combs).
Future plans: I am going to Penn State University Main Campus starting this fall, majoring in Hospitality Management.
Words to live by: “If you don't like the road you’re walking on, start paving another path”
One goal before turning 30: I want to travel as much as I can before I turn 30.
One thing people don’t know about me: I am a Fudgy Wudgy Man at the beach.
By GORDON GLANTZ
A truth since the Stone Ages: there are leaders and there are followers.
And there is no doubt in which category Council Rock North lacrosse senior captain Owen Rodowicz falls.
“I’ve definitely been a leader for a long while,” he said.
Not only is he the captain this year, but also as junior. As a sophomore, he captained the JV team.
The son of Nicole and Bob Rodowicz, a pair he calls the “most supportive parents he could have asked for,” carries the same persona off the field.
Not only has he ascended up the ladder to class president, but he’s played a leadership role around the building – from co-editing the yearbook to serving as an officer for Mini-THON to being a member of the mascot committee as well as the National Business Honor Society while also ascending to management positions at his summer jobs at the Jersey Shore.
“I mentioned this in my college essay, but I was always picked as the line leader when I was younger,” said Rodowicz. “I don’t know why, but I was always the person that people would put in charge. It’s not like I ever tried for it or anything. It would just end up happening.
“With lacrosse, I was JV captain my sophomore year, even though I ended up not really playing on JV. The way our captain system works is that the team votes and then the coaches vote. I was the only junior captain out of the four last year and then I’m one out of four this year.”
Rodowicz is not timid on the lacrosse field, which certainly helps his standing.
“I’m arguably the loudest, so that’s probably one of the major reasons,” he said. “I’m not afraid to put a kid in his place if he’s not doing the right thing. I’ll always direct drills and stuff like that.”
Head coach John Fitzpatrick is already bracing for the reality of Rodowicz’s absence.
“We are going to have a huge leadership hole to fill next year,” he said. “He is a true leader on and off the field, a two-year captain and our leader on defense where he plays against the other team’s best player.
“Owen is like having another coach on the field. He is highly intelligent and understands our defensive scheme more than any other player. He leads by example. He is the first to shake hands and to pick another player up when down.”
Off the field, Rodowicz’s work in the classroom sets an example for his teammates.
“I have all my work in and stuff like that,” he said. “With some kids, you have to worry about them staying eligible.
“Last year, we had a period where I had to help four of our best players get back up with their grades. Even like that, especially as a captain, you have to keep everyone on top of their grades.”
“You don’t want them to slip, especially the seniors, because it is the last semester of their senior year.”
All in the Family
Although he is the second of four lacrosse-playing brothers, Rodowicz was the first to be plucked from the baseball diamond as a second grader.
“I hated baseball,” he joked. “I was that kid in the outfield picking dandelions. I just did not like it. My parents switched me over. I also had friends playing lacrosse. Second grade, I think, was my first year. I stayed with it all the way until now.”
And some of those first teammates – Liam Dudley and Billy McBride – are now North teammates on a team ticketed for the postseason after missing out a year ago.
They are looking to go out together on a high note, as North was 7-8 and year ago and has already surpassed that win total with 8 victories in their first 10 outings.
“That was the goal,” he explained. “We said, ‘We have got to get back into the playoffs and win at least one again and maybe even beat the previous record and get into the third round.’
“Liam Dudley and Billy McBride - we have been all playing together since second grade. That bond will last a lifetime.”
Rodowicz’s older brother, Tyler, switched over to lacrosse in high school and younger twins, Kellen and Eagan, are on the team now.
Baseball’s loss has been lacrosse’s gain.
“I coached his older brother, and he has two younger brothers on the team,” said Fitzpatrick. “All are very good lacrosse players.”
Rodowicz did play football through middle school, but there was never a doubt that he was going to stick with lacrosse.
And, as he did, it was with the full support of his family – all four grandparents included.
“For a while, I was the only one who played lacrosse,” Rodowicz said. “All my brothers were baseball players. Tyler, my older brother, started playing in high school and my two younger brothers started in middle school, so I was the only one playing it throughout my childhood. I started it off and they all followed me.”
Happy in Happy Valley
Although he won’t be playing lacrosse at Penn State, the distinguished honor roll student is ready to write his next chapter at the school’s main campus.
An avid traveler, who has been to Europe a few times, he found an ideal fit for a major in hospitality management.
“That’s anything from hotel management to restaurant management,” he said. “Penn State is in the Top 5 for that major, which is why I ended up picking it.
“I did get into Clemson and South Carolina for the same major, but it was too expensive to go down South and Penn State ended up being better in that major anyway.”
Although it will involve putting in the hours, the major should allow Rodowicz a chance to continue to see the world.
“That’s 100 percent part of it,” he said. “I don’t know where I’m going to end up yet, and I do have a lot of family around here. It’ll be tough, but I do really like the travel aspect of it. You’re still working, but you are at these awesome places.
“If that can be my job and I can get paid on top of it, I feel like it’s a win-win.”
