Paul Barton is a 5-star defenseman for the ADVNC SF ‘21 team, who is committed to play for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. Barton has played for ADVNC since he was in the 5th grade. He started playing lacrosse in 2nd grade after his friend Ben Ramsey’s dad introduced him to the sport. “I loved lacrosse right away,” Paul said. “I always liked running around. I played soccer and basketball before lacrosse. A lot of my soccer friends played lacrosse and I liked playing with them.” 

Ramsey and Barton still play lacrosse together on both their ADVNC squad and at Sacred Heart Prep. Ramsey, a 5-star player himself, is committed to play at the University of Notre Dame.

Paul is the second oldest of four kids to Harris and Megan Barton. All four Barton kids play and love sports, which is no surprise due to the fact that Harris was an All-American offensive lineman for the UNC Tarheels football team, and was a first round draft pick of the San Francisco 49ers in 1987. He was a starter on three 49ers Super Bowl winning teams, and was twice named All-Pro. 

“I grew up in Atlanta, and I never saw lacrosse, ever, till I went to UNC for college,” Harris said. “Most of my best friends in college were on the lacrosse team, and I started following it closely. Then I lost touch with the game when I moved to the Bay Area until my kids started playing.”

Megan grew up in California and said she never saw lacrosse till her kids started playing.

Today, the Bartons are immersed in lacrosse. Paul’s older sister, Anna, is a freshman on the UNC women’s lacrosse team, and both his younger siblings play lacrosse as well.  

Paul loved lacrosse through elementary and middle school and mostly played midfield, but a key suggestion from a key person changed the course of his lacrosse career.

“In 8th grade, Tom Barnds asked if I had ever tried playing defense with a long pole,” Paul said. “I always liked playing defense as a middie, but when he put a long pole in my hands, I got really good. That’s when I realized, this is my favorite sport and I wanted to play lacrosse over basketball in college.”  

Tom Barnds is a former All-American defenseman at Princeton, and the father of Tommy and Billy Barnds, both of whom are standout players with Paul on ADVNC and SHP.

After becoming a full-time defenseman, Paul kept getting better and better. He was soon recognized as one of the top defensive players in the country. When September 1, 2019 rolled around, Paul was prepared. “I had a bunch of meetings with Coach Chris (Rotelli, ADVNC’s Founder & CEO, as well as Paul’s Head Coach at Sacred Heart Prep),” Paul said. “He did a great job of preparing me for the entire recruiting process, and helping me understand what I should do, and what I should expect.”

Having played great all summer for the ADVNC ‘21 team, many of the top college programs contacted Paul.

“I had been emailing coaches all summer,” Paul said. “So the beginning of September was pretty fun, because I was able to talk to coaches for the first time on the phone.”

Paul flew East to make official visits. He visited Johns Hopkins and the University of Virginia first. Then he went to Chapel Hill. Despite his Dad having played football there, it was only the second time Paul had ever been to the UNC campus. 

“The team was super fun to get to know and hang with,” Paul said. “I got to meet the coaches too. It all felt like a family that was similar to what ADVNC has, and that was the main thing that pushed me to UNC.”

When he got back to the Bay Area, Paul only took a couple days to decide that he wanted to commit to UNC. He called all the other coaches who had contacted him, “because I didn’t want to waste their time, and I wanted them to know how much I appreciated them being interested in me,” Paul said.

“I was excited for Paul,” said Harris. “He took a business-like approach to this process and chose a school that was best for his education. He also will get to play in a world class organization in terms of lacrosse. I’m proud of how he handled the entire decision and of how he handled calling the coaches. It was real thoughtful and respectful of the coaches’ time.”

“From a mom's perspective, it’s so flattering to have people say so many nice things about your son and be so supportive,” said Megan. “I am super proud of Paul. He's always worked really hard at everything. He’s never been a kid that I had to nag to do anything, whether its homework, eating or ball drills. He’s always been super responsible and hard working. It’s nice when that is rewarded.”

Paul credits Jack Huber and Max Feely, his two longtime ADVNC coaches for helping him achieve his dreams. “Max and Jack have always done a super good job of connecting with our team,” said Paul. “We love them and want to play our hardest for them. Our team is a brotherhood. We were one of the first ADVNC teams to go out to the East Coast and try and win tournaments. We knew those East Coast teams we played against were from the hotbed of lacrosse. Max and Jack played on the East Coast (Feely at Cornell & Huber at Albany.) They always told us we were good enough to play against those guys.”

The ADVNC SF ‘21 team is one of the most talented and successful club lacrosse teams in Northern California history. “It’s been an honor to be a part of that,” Paul said. ”Every one of my ADVNC SF ‘21 teammates are good enough to play DI lacrosse, if they decide that’s what they want to do. It is super fun to play with them and see everyone grow, and see a ton of kids’ dreams of going to play college fulfilled. I couldn't have done all of this without all of them. We knew every time we stepped on the field we’d play for each other and have each other’s back.”