Brodi Reidel was a standout defenseman on the ADVNC Sacramento and NDP ‘23 team, who is starting his freshman year at Loyola University this Fall.
Brodi was introduced to lacrosse when he was 8 years old. “My mom’s boyfriend at the time had a son who was older than me, and he played lacrosse,” said Brodi. “He showed it to me and I loved it right away. I started going to watch his practices with my little brother (Hudson Reidel, current member of the ADVNC Sacramento ‘26 team). We both started playing lacrosse. Then we would go watch my older cousin’s games together. He was a defender and when I saw him do a ‘rusty gate,’ I totally loved it and I’ve been tossing them as much as I can, ever since.”
Brodi soon joined his first lacrosse team, a city league team that his dad coached. He met many of the kids who are still his closest friends to this day. “I really started loving lacrosse when I got to the age where I could start hitting kids,” Brodi said. “My parents didn’t want me playing football because they were worried about head injuries. Lacrosse was a good in between for them, because there were fewer head injuries, but I could still lay a few bodies and have a good time with it.”
“Lacrosse wasn’t about playing a sport in college, that was never the plan,” said Brodi’s mom, Jeanine Reidel. “Lacrosse was about keeping busy and staying out of trouble. It was about learning to work with others, learning to work as a team, and learning how to deal with disagreements and disappointments. Lacrosse and sports have always been about creating a well rounded man. Lacrosse and the amazing coaches Brodi has had have helped make him into the wonderful person he is today.”
When Brodi was in 6th grade, he started playing with the ADVNC Sacramento ‘23 A team, the developmental team that was offered for his age group. “Coach Goldsmith was our coach, and I remember him being a great coach,” said Brodi. “He had us conditioning every day, which we didn’t like at the time, but it got us better.”
While he played for the A team, he and his friend, Trent Silva, would watch the AA team in their age group practice. That inspired Brodi and Trent to start practicing harder on their own, and they made the AA team the following season. “It was a great feeling,” Brodi said. “I loved that team right away. I still miss it. I tell my younger brother to cherish every moment he has playing for ADVNC because those are some of the best moments I’ve ever had.”
Jeanine Reidel looks back on Brodi’s ADVNC career, and it’s the friendships he’s made that stick out the most. “He has a great group of friends from ADVNC,” Jeanine said. “His ADVNC Sacramento team was made up of boys from Jesuit, Granite Bay, Oak Ridge and Vista. Those boys really bonded with each other over the years.”
Brodi kept improving and was selected to play for the ADVNC NDP NorCal team. “We were at one of the first tournaments, and (ADVNC Founder & CEO) Chris Rotelli was there and he told the other coaches he thought I should be on the NDP National Team as well,” Brodi recalled. “Being on that National Team was pretty nerve wracking at first. But playing with all the best players from all over NorCal, Seattle and Oregon made me better.”
Despite playing on the NDP National Team, Brodi wasn’t convinced he wanted to play lacrosse in college. “But last year, I was playing with my ADVNC Sacramento team, being with all my friends and having a great time, and I thought, I can’t believe I only have one more of this left,” Brodi said. “And I thought, I can’t stop playing lacrosse. And I don’t like playing when there isn’t something on the line, so I didn’t want to just play at the club level in college. That’s when I knew I wanted to play in Division I in college.”
“Our recruiting experience was very different from most families,” Jeanine Reidel said. “Brodi got recruited by being a guest player at a tournament with ADVNC and being spotted by the Loyola coaches. He wasn’t even going to play at that tournament until I got him a very last minute plane ticket and had him lodge with a friend. He wasn’t even in the college coaches’ recruiting folders. Luckily, Chris Rotelli knew the Loyola coaches and connected Brodi with them.”
“Yeah, I went back East to that tournament and stayed with my friend and teammate, Zach Halloran,” Brodi said. “All the Loyola coaches were at my game. I played good enough for them to notice me, they contacted me, and we went from there.”
“We went and toured the school in Baltimore, met with Coach Marc Van Arsdale, and we got an offer a week later,” said Jeanine Reidel. “It was truly meant to be.”
“Loyola was my only DI offer,” Brodi said. “Their facilities are great. The kids there are hilarious. I really like all the coaches and the level they compete at. I’m super excited to play there. ADVNC’s biggest help for me was the connections the coaches have. I loved playing for (ADVNC Sacramento Director) Evan Morrison. He’s been a great guy and made us a better team. He’s always there for his players. And the level of play I got to experience, especially on NDP .. I wouldn’t have been able to get on those east coast trips and get in front of college coaches like that without ADVNC.”
“ADVNC taught Brodi lacrosse,” said Jeanine Reidel. “It also helped him get into an amazing college that he might never have explored. ADVNC has also brought so many amazing people into our lives and I’m thankful for all of it. I put Brodi into sports to make him a better person and to help teach him life lessons. ADVNC is a great place for all of this.”
Brodi has the following advice for younger players who aspire to follow in his footsteps. “You can’t listen to other people,” said Brodi. “Not even your friends. They might get on for going out to the field to practice and not hanging out with them. But you have to get your work in and then have your fun. You need to work at least an hour a day trying to get better at the sport.”