Christina Unkel, J.D, M.B.A is a litigation attorney, entrepreneur, and sports tv analyst/journalist. She focuses her law practice primarily on complex business and construction litigation with a specialized focus on sports law. As a past NCAA collegiate soccer athlete and former FIFA referee, Christina has spent the past 15 years working and performing at the highest professional, international, and collegiate levels of the soccer game among the elite players of the world. Christina has recently been announced as the New State Referee Administrator (SRA) for the Florida State Referee Committee (FLSRC).
Her television broadcasting work includes covering the 2019 Women's World Cup at Fox Sports and European Football (UEFA Champions League and Europa League) for CBS HQ and Paramount+. Christina is also a journalist for The Athletic and CBS Sports covering referees, the laws of the game, and legal issues in sports.
MEET CHRISTINA
One of the most rewarding areas in her professional capacity is creating businesses that enable organizations, companies, and individuals to perform or develop high-performance mindsets aligned with purposeful impact. Founder of SPARQ Advocacy, Christina focuses on diversity, equity, inclusion, and access work by means of the “athlete mindset ”. As co-owner of Scorch Fitness and the Deadlift Effect, Christina focuses on providing sports science and strength training to the everyday person to permit them to tap into their everyday athlete and burn off what holds them back in their personal and professional lives. Recently, Christina launched the 501(c)(3) non-profit, Scorch Community, to provide athletic, education, and wellness initiatives to underrepresented communities.
She is a graduate of Palm Beach Atlantic, Stetson MBA Program, and Stetson Law. Christina has received numerous awards for her work, including, Sarasota’s Women of Influence, Best of SRQ Magazine Business Leader and Lawyer, Best of Lawyers in Tampa Bay, Sarasota County Bar’s Presidents Award, and PBA’s Top 50 Alumni’s. She has held several chair and committee positions in her legal and sports capacities and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the International Women’s Forum (Suncoast Chapter) and active member of the Women in Sports and Events “WISE” (Tampa Chapter ).
Her proudest accomplishment however is being a mom to a fearless little girl. Christina resides in Sarasota, Florida with her husband, Ted, and daughter , Quinn .
