Hockey Teaches Former Scout to Tackle Each Transition in Her Life Head on

Life has had many transitions for Lake Forest’s Jenna Dancewicz. 

From the time she joined the Falcons hockey program at age 5 through her graduation from Brown University in a few weeks, Dancewicz has known what she wanted to do and made her opportunities.

When no hockey program existed for girls, she played with the boys. When offered no girls’ hockey team, she started one. When she had to adjust from a high school athlete to a Division One Ivy League hockey player, she became Brown’s captain. When the environment became her passion after taking a class, she made it her career.

Part of a line of Lake Forest High School athletes , Dancewicz plans to continue playing hockey after graduation when she becomes a project engineer for Suffolk Construction in Boston. 

Thinking big has always been a strong point for this Ivy League student, but not actually putting those thoughts in a shape of a building. 

“I was thinking about becoming a vet and was in biomedical engineering,” Dancewicz said. “Then I took a course in environmental science and decided to do green building. It’s a way we can build and be effective with the environment.” 

After taking that class, she changed majors and pursued a career in construction with a bent toward the environment. For Dancewicz, this is not just about a job putting up buildings, it is about environmental stewardship. 

“One of the keys with Jenna (Dancewicz) is a significant hands on applied component,” Kurt Teichert said. Teichert was the Brown professor whose course led Dancewicz to her new career

“She understands how to mix human interaction with the built environment," he added.

When Dancewicz arrived at Brown, she was a highly recruited high school athlete who was not sure what to expect as a freshman. She quickly transitioned to the demands to gain significant ice time her first year and become a prolific scorer as a sophomore, netting a team-high eight goals and finishing second in scoring with 13 points. 

“It was much more intense (than high school or junior hockey),” Dancewicz said of her frosh introduction. “There were more demands from the team and the coaches. The team atmosphere made it easier.” 

Weight training and conditioning became part of her regular regimen. It was even more pronounced in the off season. 

“I had to keep a rep (weight training) log and a food log,” Dancewicz said. “I kept it all in a notebook.”

The combination paid off on the ice. As a sophomore, she scored the winning goal in victories over arch rivals Yale (4-1) and Princeton (2-1). 

Dancewicz has learned to lead by example from the time she was a young hockey player. That is one of the reasons Brown coach Digit Murphy appoint her one of the Bears' captains when her senior season began last fall. 

“She’s a fantastic individual and extremely hard working,” assistant Brown coach Sean Coady said. “Her teammates, everyone, respects her for her work ethic. No task is too difficult. She always competes.” 

If she didn't lead by example,  Dancewicz charted a path for others to follow.

“I had to keep the spirits up and focused on the game,” Dancewicz said. "There are different types of leadership and this was most important this year.”

Adde Coady, “This was a hard season for the team (Brown finished 2-23-4), and she (Dancewicz) kept everyone’s spirits up. We (the coaches) trusted her with respect and they (the team) responded to her.” 

While Dancewicz plans on earning an MBA after she puts a few years of work experience under her belt and hopes to work for herself one day, she showed entrepreneurial spirit as a high school freshman. Lake Forest had a boys’ hockey team but none for the girls. 

After competing with the boys in the Falcons program in Highland Park, she joined the Chicago Young Americans. It was her first girl’s team and she was introduced to know players from all over the area. She then entered high school and found no Scout team. 

Her older brother had played for the Scouts. She and her parents knew the procedures and parties at the Amateur Hockey Association of Illinois (AHAI), the group that governs interscholastic hockey in the state. That was all she needed to start a program at Lake Forest. 

The players may have been from as far away as Chicago, but they were winners in their initial season. . 

“Lake Forest didn’t have one (a girls’ hockey team) so we started one,” Dancewicz said.

She realized there were not enough players at Lake Forest High School to form a squad, but she knew a team in that situation could draw from other schools. She also knew the players. 

“We had to combine schools and form a Co-op,” Dancewicz said. “I knew people from Highland Park, the Woodlands and Lane Tech. I got them together.

The Lane Tech connection came from Dancewicz’s CYA coach, Dean Karoozos, who had a daughter at Lane. She knew the team needed a coach. She not only organized the team, but recruited Karoozos to coach as well. 

“AHAI helped us grow the program,” Dancewicz said. 

The experience created a desire to keep the sport in her life after college. 

“I may find a women’s team or play with the guys from work,” Dancewicz said of her hockey future.