Crista Samaras

Princeton

Although Crista Samaras said she "barely made the qualifications" for attending Princeton, the athlete says she was accepted because "lacrosse was [her] hook." As a freshman in 1995, Samaras was Rookie of the Year. The following year she was All-American. In her last two years at Princeton, she was named All-American two more times and was also on the NCAA All-Tournament Team twice. She was also a two-time Ivy League Player of the Year. During her senior year, she received the Emily Goodfellow Award which is rewarded to a senior who “contributes to team unity, morale, spirit, and has demonstrated love of lacrosse and Princeton.” Before graduating in 1999 with her bachelor’s in Politics, Samaras set a record of 270 points during her career which has yet to be broken. Samaras said, "Princeton created roots for me in the idea that you totally embrace what you are fighting for.” After graduating, Samaras returned to Princeton to train for a day before competing in the 2001 World Cup to "get in touch with her roots."

IFWLA World Cup: 2001 and 2005

In order be prepared for the 2001 World Cup, Samaras trained for a day at each of the schools she attended and played lacrosse at. During the Semifinals in of the 2001 World Cup, Crista Samaras had two assists and three goals, which led to her receiving honors. In the 2001 IFWLA World Cup Finals, the United States defeated Australia 14-8. Samaras had an assist for team mate Flynn and also scored the final goal of the game. For the 2005 World Cup, Samaras prepared by having intense three-a-day training sessions. Samaras recalled how in the 2001 World Cup she was “wide-eyed and didn’t know the players as well.” When asked about the 2005 World Cup she said, “This experience will resonate more for me. It's in the U.S., it's in my hometown, and I know the players better." Although the competition was in her hometown, the U.S. lost to Australia 14-7.

Career

Crista Samaras was an assistant coach at Yale University in 2000 and 2001. Two years after leaving Yale, Samaras issued a patent for shallow pocket netting she designed for the head of a lacrosse stick. She also began designing clothing and other equipment for the sport including inaugurating the Warrior's Woman's line. Samaras runs three businesses which all promote lacrosse. Samaras is the CEO of Bounce Entertainment which is home to four lacrosse club teams including XTEAM, The ATL, New Lax, and Team OC. XTEAM is an international lacrosse club created for girls from non-traditional lacrosse areas who want to play lacrosse in college. XTEAM is composed of 100 girls from all over. XTEAM also aims to increase the self-esteem and confidence of the players. The motto is, “LAUGH LOUDER. FIGHT HARDER. RISK MORE.” Samaras started The ATL lacrosse club team in order to give players in Georgia an opportunity to play more competitive lacrosse while also building bonds with girls in the community. New Lax is a very competitive club team for girls in New England who want more opportunities to play.Team OC is based in Southern California and was also started to give players an opportunity to compete at a higher level. Bounce Entertainment launched the “So, be it.” Campaign to boost self-esteem in girls. Samaras believes “every person – girl, boy, man or woman – is something. Identify what you are and be it to the max. You are who you are, so be it!”

Crista sold XTEAM to Trilogy Lacrosse in 2014.

Crista founded a new company called Brave Enterprises in 2016 which is built on top of 15 years of experience working with thousands of teenage girls and getting to the real base of insecurity, fear, grit, resilience and bravery. Our mission is to craft practice-based programming that will inform brave-inspired behaviors for people who want to make a habit of taking action.

Crista currently resides in NYC. On top of running BRAVE, Crista actively pursues her hopes of becoming a writer and/or actor, as she frequently attends and crushes acting classes and passionately writes many short memoirs.

While Crista has many accomplishments, she wrote that she would personally argue it is her failures that make her a complete and total badass - Badass For Hire

In other articles Crista has written about the Bravery Gap, Little Girl Big Bull, and A Depression Tale, Part 1.