Naya Crittenden has been an athlete from the time she could walk. But she didn’t start to play what would become her professional sport — volleyball — until the relatively ripe age of 16. And while the California native was exposed to environmentalism as a toddler, her interest in leading climate action is of a much more recent vintage.

Crittenden’s work ethic, passion, and ability to overcome serious obstacles, obvious throughout her volleyball journey, are what led EcoAthletes founder Lew Blaustein to invite her to become the organization’s newest Champion.

“Naya’s volleyball career has been filled with challenges that would’ve stopped 99 percent of humans,” Blaustein observed. “But not Naya. She used those obstacles as fuel — carbon-free fuel at that — to succeed on the court. That same ability will serve her well as she takes on the #ClimateComeback as an EcoAthletes Champion.”

Running was Crittenden’s first and very early foray into sports.

“My dad Michael was a dual-sport athlete at Cal Berkeley, playing football and running track there,” she noted. “So, I started early with my dad as my coach. I did sprints, long jump, and triple jump. Then I moved to the 400 and ran all the relays in high school. And while I liked it, I also felt like it was an obligation of sorts and didn’t take it as seriously as I could have. I didn’t think I would compete at the college level”

Always the tallest kid in her class, volleyball was a natural for Crittenden. But she didn’t take it up until she was almost 16 and that was mostly by accident.

“The grandparent of one of the kids my dad coached at our old track club was a volleyball coach; he suggested I come by to a practice and try it,” recalled Crittenden. “From the first moment, I enjoyed it! It was fun doing something new, and I had no expectations in the beginning.”

Even though she was a novice, Crittenden drew the attention of Division I college recruiters based on perceived upside potential, due to her athleticism and height in her very first club volleyball season. Arizona and Oregon showed particular interest.

There were some hidden costs to being seen as a diamond in the rough.

“I played club volleyball instead of high school because the competition was much stronger than at the varsity level,” she acknowledged. “The problem was club volleyball didn’t allow enough time for coaching. I was a raw athlete who needed to learn the techniques, but that instruction wasn’t available. It was frustrating. So, when it came time to choose a college, I looked for a school and a team that offered time and coaching so I could develop. That’s why I became an Oregon Duck.”

While Crittenden enjoyed the academics at the Eugene, Oregon school, the promised technical coaching never materialized. And that was just the start of her difficulties with the volleyball program.

“The coaching was centered around belittling players, and the environment was very hostile,” she offered. “It never felt like a team. So many girls transferred before and after my class arrived.”

Crittenden thought about transferring at the end of her freshman year, but instead she decided to prove to the coaches that she could take it, that they couldn’t defeat her.

“Looking back that was the worst decision I could have made,” admitted Crittenden. “I had anxiety about going to practice every single day. It was certainly not a healthy environment. So, after that season, I announced that I was going to transfer.”

After leaving the team, she decided make the mistreatment known to the athletic department.

“I wrote an open letter to the athletic department acknowledging that mistreatment within our team was rampant and that things had to change,” Crittenden related. “I asked six or seven former players, even girls older than I, if they would like to sign this letter. Unfortunately, while everyone I asked did sign the letter and it did make some some waves, the athletic department never responded and nothing really changed for at least two more years.”

Again looking for a program that would focus on her technical and mental development as a player, Crittenden eventually found a good fit halfway across the country at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the Big Ten.

“Coach Kevin Hambly did exactly what he said he’d do — he gave me time, valuable coaching, and fostered a real family atmosphere among the team,” recalled Crittenden. “I will always be grateful for that. Because I was working to overcome the mental blocks from my Oregon experience, my feelings of being a fraud as a volleyball player, and was adjusting to Illinois, my junior year was just so-so.”

Things picked up noticeably for Crittenden at the beginning of her senior year thanks in large part to her ability to internalize the insights imparted by Coach Hambly.

“He said, ‘Naya, you have to see yourself as a volleyball player, not as a track athlete masquerading as a volleyball player’,” said Crittenden. “Once I was able to believe that my play just took off. So much so that my mom told me that an announcer said during a match that ‘Naya Crittenden is on her way to becoming an All-American’.”

That comment turned out to be an albatross for Crittenden.

She became hyper-focused on becoming an All-American, which caused her to put too much pressure on herself, which in turn led to a subpar last half of her senior season: “It might sound strange for an outsider but that comment almost broke me mentally. I really spiraled and our team had a tough season as well. The honest truth was that subconsciously I did not believe in myself.”

Eager to put the trials and tribulations of her college volleyball career behind her, Crittenden moved to Europe where she was able to build self-belief as embarked on what has been a successful pro volleyball career. Her passport has gotten quite the workout as she played for clubs in Italy, Hungary, Switzerland, Germany, and Turkey, before returning to the States to play for the pioneering women’s sports startup, Athletes Unlimited.

Crittenden is also looking to pioneer the #ClimateComeback as an EcoAthletes Champion. As with sports, her passion for the environment was stoked by her family, her father in particular.

“Dad’s environmentalism was inspired by his love of scuba diving,” Crittenden said. “He would go dive when he could, most recently in Cozumel, Mexico and he always wanted my brother and me to get into it as well. Before that, and as far back as I can remember, my dad had us recycle. My job was to separate the recycling and bring it to the recycling center. So, I’ve always had an almost visceral disgust of litter; it is just gross!”

While the University of Oregon turned out to not be the place for her, volleyball-wise, Crittenden loved the eco-friendliness and cleanliness of the Eugene campus and the athletics department (“we never used plastic water bottles; we had reusable bottles for all of our team members”). Her experience in Europe was quite different.

“I am not exaggerating when I tell you that plastic water bottles are everywhere, at volleyball practice and games and beyond,” Crittenden exclaimed. “The problem is particularly acute in many older European countries, because of old infrastructure and especially where the quality of the water systems haven’t been updated. In those places, and in our team gyms, you would find trash cans filled with plastic water bottles everywhere. At the end of practice, there would be a giant trash can filled with water bottles. This was the case at every practice, five or six days a week.”

Motivated by oceans of plastic, Crittenden sought and found ways to up her environmental- and climate-action game:

• Upon her return to the USA to play for Athletes Unlimited, Crittenden was invited by former major league baseball outfielder and Players for the Planet founder Chris Dickerson to take part in their beach cleanups. She looks forward to doing so.

• She attended October’s Sport Positive Summit in London, which took her #ClimateComeback meter to another level. “I had no idea that the Green-Sports world was so active and advanced,” Crittenden enthused. “I am excited to learn how I can make more of a difference and look forward to doing more.”

Becoming an active EcoAthletes Champion is one way she plans to do more to accelerate the #ClimateComeback.

“I am so excited to be part of the EcoAthletes Champions roster,” Crittenden said. “Working on reducing single-use plastic is a natural starting point for me; being a Champion empowers me to move to the next level as a climate advocate. We have no Planet B and so I can’t wait to learn and lead!”

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