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One on one with a World Cup Team member
Of all the women to graduate from a top program who chose not to pursue a career as a coach, Crista Samaras is clearly one of the most successful lacrosse businesswomen out there. Right now, Samaras is as busy as she's ever been - practicing and getting in shape for national team tryouts, auditioning for roles, heading up three lacrosse businesses, taking care of a malnourished foster puppy, and running clinics - but she's got tons of love for her roots in the game which is why she agreed to sit down and talk with WDPCC Newsletter editor, Dana Czapnik, about where she's been and where she's going.
| Dana: | | Where are you from? |
| Crista: | | I'm from Annapolis, MD, apparently, the Mecca of women's lacrosse. |
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| Dana: | | When did you start playing Lacrosse? |
| Crista: | | I started playing in 1st grade. In Annapolis, there were established feeder systems for little girls that organized competition beginning at the 2nd grade level. I went to all the practices for my sister's team and officially had my own team in 2nd grade. I wasn't interested in sports and I was rather uncoordinated, so getting me to lacrosse practice was a challenge for my mother. There were worries early on that I had not inherited the athleticism of my parents - the other 5 kids in my family are natural athletes - which was apparent when I struck out at T-Ball in Kindergarten.
I was not ever "naturally" good at lacrosse. I quickly found out that skill would put me on par with the girls that had vision and experience. Skill has been the foundation of my game since realizing how important it was in 6th grade. |
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| Dana: | | Where has Lacrosse taken you? First literally - as in what cities, states countries have you traveled to play the sport? And figuratively - how has the sport changed your life or altered your path? |
| Crista: | | Literally, it has taken me to at least 100 cities across the United States and in competition abroad, to England for the 2001 World Cup Championships. Figuratively, it has taken me to the moon and back. Lacrosse has been a launch pad for so many passions of mine - acting, directing, producing, consulting, creating, developing, etc. For me, it's been a forum to try anything. I've succeeded a lot in the lacrosse world - personally and professionally. I've also failed on both accounts as well. |
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| Dana: | | I have done everything in the lacrosse world, I am sure of it. My ongoing problem is fitting it all in and harnessing the energy into an organized effort. I am all over the map with my experiences - writing, playing, coaching, consulting, etc - that it is difficult to differentiate the WHY, WHEN and WHERE of it all. Currently, my companies cover everything I want to do in the lacrosse world and are set to thrive as I pursue acting. |
| Crista: | | Stampede Lax, LLC: This is my camp and clinic company that offers the opportunity for coaches or players to design their own experience - they can pick material and we come and supply the curriculum and coaching. Recently, I've been doing more coaching of adults and I love it. Each adult represents 20-40 kids and if you have 50 in a room, that’s 1000 kids. Last fall, Stampede traveled to Pittsburgh and Cleveland every week for 5 straight weeks to give a local stick work clinic. www.stampedelax.com
Bounce Entertainment, LLC: This is the service-oriented company that produced the VERSUS VIDEO SERIES (Instructional DVDs and Manuals). We have completed 2 of 10 planned videos, are currently in pre-production of our next set and will be releasing a book this summer. www.bouncentertainment.com
XTeam Lax, LLC: A national club team, we have players from 26 different states joining to play with and against the best in the country at tournaments and training sessions. We play in at least 8 different states throughout the year and just celebrated our 2nd year with a GALA at the Grand Hyatt in NYC. All 31 seniors in the class of 2005 are going to college and 30 of them are playing lacrosse! www.xteamlax.com |
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| Dana: | | Where are you going next? |
| Crista: | | I am trying to get an agent for acting and pursue TV and Film. I have had so much experience speaking in front of people and trying out for lacrosse teams here and there for my entire 20 year career, exhibiting and auditioning has become second nature. I love being in front of the camera and tapping into my imagination. I've lived a lot, met tons of people from across the country and I want to dive into their lives through characters and stories. I will develop some screenplays and documentaries as I pursue being an actress. |
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| Dana: | | You've got your hand in many pots - what keeps you grounded? |
| Crista: | | Right now, it's the stories stuck in my head that I have no time to put to paper. There is so much agony and simplicity in my characters and they keep it real for me. Aside from that, right now, I am the foster mom for a dog named Barney until he is adopted. Walking him three times a day has helped me rediscover parts of New York City I haven't had time to see and has put a different meaning to what an hour means. He needs love, he needs to gain weight and he needs to know that his mom/dad will always come back. I am giving that to him until an amazing person saves him for the rest of his life. I am so selfish, and Barney has humbled every ounce of me. I can work 18 hours a day, 6 of which are dedicated to working out. When I am tired and done and look into this little Fox Hound's face, I cannot wait to go out and play with him. You would not believe the change in just a week. In him. And, in me. |
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| Dana: | | What is a typical Saturday night like for you? |
| Crista: | | The source of my frustration in life is there seems to be no typical day for me. Although, that’s what I need so that I don't get bored! Some Saturday nights may be an Indie-movie and dinner with friends, a fashion show in my apartment which leads to a Sunday of re-hanging everything. Most often, however, Saturday nights are the days I am actually home, in my apartment with a beautiful view of the city. The quiet time is great and the phones rarely ring with requests for clinics or reminders of due dates. So, a cheap bottle of wine and a simple activity get me ready for the week (my weeks start on Sunday because since elementary school, I HATE Mondays). I will paint or clean or sew or practice piano/guitar, run lines or monologues, and fall asleep reading a book that is just a bit too over my head (non-fiction when I am writing and fiction when I am LAXing out) - Pinker or Pynchon. |
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| Dana: | | Who is your favorite player to watch - in college or out? |
| Crista: | | I like watching college lacrosse because it is so fast and quick. But, I have to say that playing on the US Team has gotten me used to my teammates. Quinn Carney is pure talent, Cherie Greer is grace with cleats on, Rachael Becker is patience incarnate and Michele DeJuliis is blue-collar effort. I still play with the Princeton team, and players like Lindsay Biles and Elizabeth Pillion are great to witness, especially at practice when you get the rawest form of their talent. Nothing about a college kid at practice is forced. |
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| Dana: | | What's on your iPod playlist before a big game like, let's say, the World Cup!? I assume you have an iPod - but if not, pick whatever variation on the theme you can think of - CD player, tape deck, phonograph. |
| Crista: | | I did all of the warm-up tapes at Princeton. I was big fan of a million songs - different types and I hate listening to repeated choruses. I'm not much musically motivated anymore, but on my running playlist is an ample listing of songs that motivate me, although they may not be the same titles I listen to when I am NOT on the treadmill: No Doubt (Hella Good); Beyonce (Crazy in Love); Britney (Toxic); Limp Bizkit (My Way); Selena (Bidi Bidi Bom Bom); Broadway's WICKED (Defying Gravity); Michael Jackson (Dirty Diana); Eric Clapton (Willy & the Hand Jive); etc.
Otherwise, I'm pretty chill in my music selection, preferring folk music. I love Greek music (I am Greek) and I will admit, I love Britney, Beyonce, Jessica, Christina. |
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| Dana: | | What is the best American city/town for lacrosse - in your experience? |
| Crista: | | Right now, I'm into Pittsburgh. The parents and kids are motivated and want to get things rolling. I've done clinics at Mt. Lebanon, Peters Township and I have kids on XTeam from those schools and a fabulous little goalie from Sewickley Academy. It's a great blue-collar town, the kids are involved and they work so hard for what they get. I've worked with great people there and see Pittsburgh as a place that will start yielding great Division I talent. |
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| Dana: | | Have you ever had one of those moments on the field where you reach that place inside that makes you think to yourself, 'man, this is utter perfection'? If so, what game was it and where? |
| Crista: | | I can only think back to college, which seems unfair because it was so long ago. Perhaps the SECOND half of the Georgetown game in the 1998 Quarterfinals where we won in overtime. I've tried to release my college career into a scrapbook so that it no longer weighs on me. In putting together the scrapbook, I can't believe I got to do some of the things I did, enjoy those successes and accomplishments. It's not that I have forgotten them, it's the gravity of putting them away in my personal history books that is both daunting and exciting. I am proud of what I did at Princeton and what I am trying to do in the lacrosse world. But it's only now, after graduating 6 years ago, can I sort of feel okay about saying that. I was good. Even still, I NEED to get better. |
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To submit something for publication, please contact our co-editors, Judy Fong at jfong00@yahoo.com and Dana Czapnik at danaczapnik@yahoo.com.
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