Zachary Bailiff is an outstanding attack from the ADVNC Sacramento, NDP NorCal & NDP National ‘24 teams, who will realize his dream of playing DI lacrosse at Bellarmine University, starting this Fall.

Zachary was introduced to lacrosse in a 2nd grade PE class, when Eric Vota, father of fellow ADVNC ‘24 Max Vota, came into school one day and showed Zachary and his classmates a lacrosse stick for the first time. “I instantaneously knew that I loved lacrosse,” said Zachary. “I went home that day and told my parents that I had to get a stick and get on a team.”

“We knew nothing about lacrosse,” recalled Zachary’s dad, Nathan Bailiff. “Zachary was already playing golf, tae kwon do, and some other sports, but we could see that he was really excited about this suddenly new sport. So we took him out and got him a stick that day.”

“I joined Folsom lacrosse’s team just a few weeks later, and that was my first team,” said Zachary. “It was always pretty fun. That got me started watching college lacrosse on TV for the first time. I soon thought that maybe playing lacrosse in college should be a goal of mine. My love for the sport grew from there.”

Zachary said he absolutely loves watching college lacrosse, even to this day. “My oldest memory of being a lacrosse fan is the first ever game I watched. “It was Navy at Johns Hopkins. Joel Tinney did a hidden ball trick that worked. I had to go outside in the backyard and try that right away. In fact, I can’t even get through a whole game on TV. I always want to go outside and try whatever move I see the guys do. I loved watching Connor Fields, Tehoka Nanticoke and the Thompson brothers at Albany. I also always loved Maryland. Just seeing how creative you can get with certain plays and there’s always a little luck involved. But when everyone works together as a group, it’s so awesome to watch and then try and re-create that in my yard.”

Five years ago, Nathan surprised Zachary with a trip to the DI Final Four. “It was clear how passionate Zachary was about this sport,” Nathan said. “So my wife and I decided to make a little family vacation out of it. We went back East for the Final Four, and also took him to visit several colleges.  We’ve ended up doing this for the past 5 years, always visiting different colleges along the way.”

Zachary wanted to try out for ADVNC Sacramento in 2016. “Everyone in my friends group was already playing for ADVNC or was about to try out. I didn’t make the team my first year. I worked really hard, and came back and tried out and made the team that second year, but only as a practice player. Coach Joe Sullivan worked with me a lot and helped me get so much better. I’d go to every single practice and work at it. Coach Sullivan would tell me things to work on, I’d take everything he said super seriously, and I’d practice those on my own.  Then I made the ADVNC team that third year. I played one year with ADVNC, and then COVID hit and messed everything up.”

“That was the end of his 8th grade year,” Nathan Bailiff said. “But Coach Sullivan kept working with all the kids the best he could, given the various covid rules.”

“ADVNC put out their Remote Training Program when we couldn’t practice and play like normal during covid, and that was huge for me,” said Zachary. “ADVNC and Coach Sullivan provided me with the resources to learn how to keep training my body and improve my skills. We’d all keep track of our 40 yard dash times, broad and vertical jumps and our wall ball skills. We’d compete with each other and that made us all get a lot better.”

Eventually, the ADVNC Sacramento team got back on the field together and resumed regular lacrosse practices. “That feeling of being back all together was huge after spending so many months apart. When we got back out, I wanted to do a lot more. I ended up playing not just for ADVNC Sacramento, but would play as a free agent for ADVNC North Bay, East Bay and San Francisco. I also tried out for NDP and made NDP NorCal. So I played a ton with all the various ADVNC teams. I wanted to do everything I could.”

Heading into the college recruiting process, Zachary leaned on ADVNC coach and former ADVNC player, Joe Reid, who played DI lacrosse at the University of Denver. “I sat down with Joe and he helped me put a list together of what I was looking for in a college,” said Zachary. “He also helped me learn what to say to coaches. He helped me figure out a plan of how to email them before every tournament I played in. I would tell them which field I would be playing at, every day. I knew that even if they couldn’t respond, they were always going to be watching me, so I knew I had to always play my best.”

When September 1st came around, and coaches could officially reach out to Zachary, he heard from a couple of DI programs, but none that were on his short list of schools he was the most interested in. But that didn’t discourage him. “I kept close tabs on the ADVNC ‘23 class. I saw that a lot of guys didn’t commit right away. I saw on ADVNC’s Instagram that lots of players committed to good schools later and that this would not be an overnight process for me. I was very realistic about myself because of that and I knew I could get this done, and realize my dream of playing at the DI level.”

“Zachary started to really think about the type of school he wanted,” said Nathan Bailiff. “Joe Reid and Chris Rotelli (ADVNC Founder & CEO) were very helpful with that. They helped us stay patient and follow a very clearly defined process. He soon started to get more texts from DI college coaches and that’s when we started thinking that things would go his way.”

“On September 6th, Coach Ondrusek from Bellarmine University reached out,” Zachary recalled. “I remember the date because I know it was just two days before my birthday. He said he had been watching me play a lot, and he wanted me to come visit the school. I had a great visit. The coaches all seemed interested in me as a person, not just a player. They asked a lot about what I was interested in, and what I wanted out of both a lacrosse program and a school. I knew I wanted a smaller, DI school. The campus and team felt like home. They offered me a spot on my visit, and I told them I wanted to take my time. There were some other DI programs in the mix, but I liked everything about Bellarmine and they really made me feel wanted. I thought about it for about a week, and then I committed to Bellarmine. It felt both shocking and a relief to realize my dream after being a practice player at first on ADVNC and working so hard.”

Zachary said he plans to major in biology with a minor in criminal justice. He wants to become a detective or forensic expert. “I’ve always wanted to have a very active job and use my hands,” Zachary said. “I love solving puzzles and mysteries. I want to be able to tell a family that I helped them solve a crime and help my community.”

Zachary credits his ADVNC experience with being integral in his success. “I want to thank all my coaches. Joe Sullivan, Mikie Schlosser, Joe Reid, Chris Rotelli and so many more. They helped me so much. I wouldn’t be here without them. Playing for ADVNC is really special. Growing up and watching all the players in the grades above me commit to colleges inspired me. It gave me a goal to strive for. And being able to practice against and play with so many guys who have gone onto commit to college helped me a ton. It made things 10 times more fun looking forward to seeing where they all would commit to college. For younger kids in ADVNC, going through it all is really fun. You get to play with and against the best kids in California. It’s awesome.”

Looking back on his journey, Zachary has this advice for younger players who aspire to follow in his footsteps. “The one word I’d use is: repetition. If you play a ton of lacrosse you will learn so much about the game and about life. You will meet so many incredible people. You also must have fun while doing it. Come up with new moves in your backyard. Find ways to get out and work on your game every day. You will get better, but again, make sure you’re having fun while doing it.”