For those unimpressed by dedication, perseverance, mental and physical toughness, desire and ability, Jenna Ryan is probably not going to seem too impressive.
For the other 99 percent of the population, however, her story is one worth hearing.
The Bordentown High field hockey goalie has walked a painful road—literally—to get back in the lineup as she tries to salvage a high school athletic career in her senior season. As of Oct. 12, she had registered 85 saves in the Scotties 7-6-2 start and, despite playing on painful ankles she has made an impact after nearly two years away.
“She’s been great,” first-year coach and former assistant Amy Fisicaro said. “There are times where the ball is coming at her, whether it’s a one-v-goalie situation or just a blast of a shot that’s coming at her, and she doesn’t flinch, she doesn’t back down. I’ll just be like ‘I don’t even know how she pulled off that save.’ But she did and it gives everyone else a boost and vote of confidence knowing she’s back there taking care of business.”
She was out of business for a while, thanks to a birth defect that revealed itself in sixth grade. Already a softball player, Ryan began field hockey that year and quickly noticed her ankles bothering her.
“That’s when I discovered I had issues,” she said. “I played through it for a while. I finally went to the doctor’s and found out that two bones in both my ankles were fused together.”
Ryan shelved field hockey at the time and stuck with travel softball. She was familiar with the Scotties field hockey program from watching her sister, Samantha, play.
Ryan came in a year after Sam graduated and, despite the fact her one year of field hockey was as a field player, she opted to go out for the JV team when she heard it needed a goalie.
“They knew my sister and knew I was kind of athletic,” Ryan said. “At that point they were just like, ‘We need somebody.’”
It wasn’t far-fetched to think she could handle the position. As a third baseman in softball, Ryan had proven to have quick reflexes and good reaction time, which all goalies need. She just needed knowledge of the position.
“It was a lot to learn,” Ryan said. “I made some mistakes but my team was still there for me so it made it a lot easier transitioning to a different sport. I really learned to like it. I always like to be put in that position, to be challenged all the time; and I liked working with other girls.”
She learned her lessons well and was anointed starting varsity goalie as a sophomore. Unfortunately, the pain in her feet started to become too much to ignore.
“She played a couple games as a sophomore, and before our game against Burlington Township she had to run in gym class,” Fisicaro recalled. “By the time game-time came around that day she couldn’t move. She was standing there and was like a sitting duck. We had to pull her out of the game and her doctors said it’s time (for surgery).”
Ryan tried to give it one more shot, playing two days later against Maple Shade and making just two saves in a 3-1 loss. By that point, it had become torture just walking from one class to the next during the school day.
“It just got to the point where I couldn’t wake up and stand without pain,” Ryan said. “It just got too much so I had to get the surgery. I was gonna wait, but I couldn’t. “
Asked how she even played up to that point, Ryan said, “Honestly, I’m not sure. I just knew I loved playing sports so I pushed through it a lot.”
She underwent surgery on one ankle in September and on the second in December. The healing process was lengthy and Ryan grew restless. She tried playing travel softball in June and re-injured the left ankle because it was not yet at full strength. Thus, she missed her entire junior year of hockey and softball.
“That was rough, it was hard,” she said. “I should have taken my time a little before I came back.”
She finally returned to softball last June, playing with her Cheetahs travel team before returning to field hockey.
“She was a part of our team but not actively playing last year,” Fisicaro said. “This season it was nice to see her in her pads out there participating and helping out.”
It was not an easy return, as two years out of the goal is tough to come back from.
“I think she had to get her confidence back more so than her actual ability,” Fisicaro said. “She’s a third baseman, her reaction time is great. It’s just getting that confidence back, and her mobility.”
Ryan admitted there was serious work to be done; but once she got back into it, things seemed to get easier.
“I definitely kept a lot of the information; but I was also re-learning everything, how to clear a ball, when to call it,” she said. “There were a lot of things I had to re-learn that maybe I could do better and it was pretty hard getting used to everything again. Since I’d been out for a long time, the reaction and some of the techniques I lost. My other goalies helped me and my coaches helped me and all my teammates had my back so that made it a little bit easier.”
At mid-October Ryan had four games where she reached double figures in saves, including back-to-back efforts against Collingswood and Cinnaminson where she had 14 and 18. She felt completely back after those efforts and has shown signs that she can get hot and carry a team for stretches.
“She can definitely help keep us in there,” Fisicaro said. “We play a lot of good teams and a lot of tough competition, and she keeps us in a lot of games. But she’s not one that wants the credit or attention. She’s more so about the team than the person.”
Which is why she remains in the pads despite still feeling pain in her ankles.
“I still have some issues,” she said. “They’re still kind of bothering me, but it’s my senior year and I want to play and I want to help my team. They will just be sore most of the time but it’s usually just when I’m playing that it might hurt more. The doctor kind of said I’ll have my aches and pains and everything that comes along with surgeries. The pain I’m having now is normal, but it’s not like I can do anything about it. It’s not the same amount of pain as before, so I can handle it.”
It is enough pain, however, to abandon her lifelong dream of playing college softball. She feels it would just be too much to try to continue playing at a high level with what she needs to endure.
College is still in the works, as Ryan is busy off the field as well. She is a member of the Interact Club, student council, Spanish Club and Faith Hope and Charity Club, which does volunteer work in the community. She is hoping to major in biology.
But there are still some games left to play, as she will look to be back on the softball team this year. It is an abbreviated career, for sure, but just the fact Ryan has a career at all is a tribute to so many things.
Asked what she has learned about herself over the last few years, she said, “That whatever life hands me; I can get through it. I don’t give up easily and I have a strong desire to play sports and do what I love. I‘ll do anything I can to be able to do it.”
And for most folks, that’s pretty darn impressive.
Bordentown field hockey goalie Jenna Ryan watches play from the net during a 6-1 home win over Pemberton Oct. 10, 2018. (Staff photo by Samantha Sciarrotta.),
