She’s the standing bass-playing hockey player and the daughter of the Barrington Fillies head coach. Anna Lillian Rajski is an accomplished horseback rider who has competed at national horse jumping events.
The wide-ranging world of Rajski is nonstop: she enjoys taking photos and editing pictures; she enjoys babysitting; she works at a horse barn on weekends and enjoys being in nature.
Rajski, 18, a Barrington resident, is a four-year Fillies defenseman who also has skated shifts at center. She was an alternate captain last year and a back-to-back state champion for Barrington, and a national qualifier for the North Shore Warhawks in 2023.
“On the Barrington Fillies, I play where needed,” said Rajski, wearing uniform No. 72. “Every game I may have to switch my position … I just go with it and have fun.
“I (played) defense growing up and did that for the first two years on the Fillies. The last two years I have been doing a mix of forward and defense. I honestly don’t know which (position) I prefer. I am more comfortable at defense, but I love how many puck touches I get at forward. Every shift I always try to skate as hard as I can on the forecheck and backcheck. I am not the most skilled player, so my goal is to be annoying to the opponent. I’m always trying to get in the way and get a turnover. When we have possession, I’m always looking for my teammates to give them passes and get open to receive one.”
She credits a lot of her hockey success to, ugh, her horseback coach, Dundee Bartlett, “who has influenced my career (in) riding and hockey,” Rajski said. “She taught me grit.
“I have had many challenges in my career in both sports; she has taught me to not blame myself or others and have the mindset of controlling what I can. I learned to work hard at changing what I could and accept the outcomes that aren’t in my power and not what I wanted. She always said to see the good out of every problem I have had in my day-to-day life, challenges of hockey during tryouts and playing time, and the not perfect scores in horseback riding.”
Rajski started figure skating at the Crystal Ice House, then did both hockey and figure skating from age 4 to 7, when she went with hockey alone. She has played for the Crystal Lake Yellow Jackets, Chicago Bruins and the Warhawks.
Jeff Rajski, er, Dad to Anna, is the Barrington head coach, which leads to ups and downs, she said. Many more ups.
“My dad coaching me has grown our relationship and the time we spend together. It’s always fun hearing how he views the things I do on the ice, even if I don’t always agree,” she said. “It is so valuable to have someone coaching you who is completely comfortable being honest with you, like my dad is. Although he sometimes gets too comfortable getting after me and we have little arguments on the bench, I think it has driven me to always be better. When I get a compliment from him, I know I did well, and I value that compliment even more than I would from any other coach.”
Jeff has coached Anna on a co-ed team, too.
“Some (opposing) boy had a really dirty play and hit me from behind and it was bad because I was half the guy’s size,” she said. “My dad jumped over the bench onto the ice before the ref blew the whistle because I was down. The other coaches told him to get back on the bench and he was yelling saying that the guy should be kicked out. The refs and other coaches were trying to calm him down and he said loudly, ‘I’m sorry; she’s my daughter!’ The ref told him it would be a two-and-ten (penalty) and then my dad walked away but kept repeating to himself, ‘two and a ten, ok, two and a ten’ because he was so mad and was trying to calm himself down.”
Then there was the time Anna had a rough shift, and he quickly walked over to her as soon as she got off the ice and was sternly coaching her. “I just slid down the bench away from him,” she said. “He tried to follow me, and I continued sliding down the bench, away (from him).
“This was a funny (memory) and we still laugh about it to this day. It’s the story he always tells when people ask how it is coaching his daughter.”
Following the Metro Girls tiering round, the Fillies are playing in the Founders Cup alongside Lake Forest, Chicago Central, Evanston, Lake Forest Academy and the Grizzlies.
“We are doing very well right now, building the foundation of the team,” Rajski said. “We all work together on the ice regardless of skill level; that is making us so strong. Every player on our team has a role and we are building up everyone’s confidence, (those) who wouldn’t normally have that (it). We are the strongest we have ever been this year compared to more skilled players just carrying the team which only gets you so far.”
Rajski’s goal this season is to be a good leader on the team, she said. “I always want to be an easy person to talk to (for) the younger teammates. I want to be looked at as bringing the team up. I also want to improve my play at every position and get more confident carrying the puck,” she said.
Away from the rink, Rajski plays the double bass, also known as upright bass or standing bass. She started playing in fourth grade when she joined her elementary school orchestra. She has since performed for her middle school and high school orchestras.
Last year, she also started playing the electric bass guitar.
“It is so good for people to play an instrument. When I play, I feel so much happier, challenging my brain to read a whole new language on a sheet of paper and translate that to my hands. It is so mentally relaxing and always brings up my mood,” she said.
Hockey has crossed into her musical world. She played the national anthem last season as a solo on her standing bass for the team’s senior night and for another game.
She was wearing full hockey gear, including skates, for the national anthem.
“Hockey helped me to do multiple things at once, like stickhandling with my arms while balancing on skates, moving my legs to skate, and scanning the ice with my eyes,” Rajski said. “When I play music, I have to use my eyes to translate the music to my fingers on the string while bowing with my other hand and balancing my bass.”
Then there’s her horse jumping world, as she started horseback riding at age 6. Rajski competes in horse jumping year-round and has competed at state and national meets.
“I started learning to ride a young pony named Reagan while he was learning to jump when we were both 6 years-old,” Rajski said. “My first competition was also his first competition. In 2019, when we were both 12, we went to nationals in Lexington Kentucky.
“Another memorable moment was getting my first horse and learning he was mistreated by his past owners resulting in a lot of anxiety. I worked on having him trust again by spending a lot of time with him and putting him first. In the end, we moved up three jump heights in one year, which is not typical and was a testament to (the) bond we created. We qualified for state and he also helped me get scouted for college riding and get offered an athletic scholarship.”
Rajski said hockey’s teamwork helps her horseback riding. “I have learned to bring up the mood at the barn and help my friends after a rough ride,” she said. “I think hockey has made me a leader and allows the younger people at my barn to look up to me and allows me to be a leader on our show team. Horseback riding has taught me to react quickly to a situation. Horseback riding often is adapting to what horse you’re riding and how it is feeling. I can think and look for people open when I have a lot of pressure on the ice or when there’s a turnover I can quickly recover. Horseback (riding) also has helped with nerves. You cannot get nervous on a horse because they can feel that and react nervously. I can set aside any nerves I may have in a game.”
Slapshots With … Barrington Fillies Senior Anna Lillian Rajski
Favorite NHL Team: Chicago Blackhawks
Favorite NHL Player: Trevor Zegras
Favorite Sports-themed Movie: Major League
Favorite TV Show: The Gilmore Girls and Vampire Diaries
Favorite Pre-game Meal: Mango dragon fruit drink at Starbucks and a Gogo Squeez
Favorite app: Snapchat
Celebrities You’d Like To Meet: Jennifer Lawrence, Chappell Roan and Harry Styles
Best Hockey Tip: “Focus on the work you did to get to this point, not the result.” – Dundee Bartlett
Best High School Uniform (other than Barrington): Lake Forest girls hockey team.
Furry Friends: “I love animals and spending time playing and walking my dogs.”
College Plans: “I would like to be an animal science major with a pre-veterinarian emphasis in college. I don’t know where yet, but I plan on being a part of an NCAA equestrian team.”
Long-term Career Goal: “Be a veterinarian and have my own small farm of rescue animals.”