When Sam got the news from the team medical staff that she’d torn her ACL, she felt numb. She was at a crossroads: should she end her athletic career, or use the extra year of eligibility she’d gained because of the pandemic and try to make a comeback? A heart-to-heart discussion with her father convinced her that she had what it took to come back and play again.
Sam Caputo is a North Carolina native who grew up playing lacrosse. Both her brothers played, and Sam’s father was a coach at Duke, so it was natural that Sam picked up a stick, too. She joined a newly formed club team during high school because she liked the idea of building a team culture while improving her skills. Her defensive skills earned her a scholarship to East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina as a member of the school’s inaugural women’s team.
Sam majored in Business Administration and had a strong record until the 2020 season ended early due to the COVID pandemic. When play resumed in 2021, she was named to the AAC All-Academic Team but an injury on the field ended her season early.
Sam took the opportunity to complete her MBA and earn a marketing certificate while going through intensive physical therapy. Sam, like most of the athletes we work with, isn’t afraid of doing the hard work it takes to get back to competing. She trusted the process and trusted her coaches to know what was best for her. Because she did what was needed, she came back to the team in six and a half months instead of the usual nine it would take to return from an ACL injury.
“PT was hard,” Sam says, “and it was harder knowing that there was no guarantee I’d make the team again. There were women who’d been working out at full capacity during those months, and there was a good chance I’d only sit the bench. But I kept going, and I did make the team.”
Sam plans to bring the same relentlessness to her business career. She’s in Atlanta now, and she’ll be working for Ask Consulting, a recruiting firm that places candidates in the IT, accounting, finance, legal and pharmaceutical sectors. She’s excited about her role as an associate account manager and looking forward to working with her supervisor, who she feels is a great match for her personality and learning style. She says her business degree provided a great foundation, but she knows she has a lot to learn about staffing. “All successful athletes rely on their coaches to guide them, help them improve, and help them correct course when needed,” she says. “It’s another way you learn to trust the process. If you do the work to prepare and listen to your coaches, you’re bound to be successful.”