Nate Felsenthal is a dynamic attack from the ADVNC SF and NDP ‘24 team who will play at Williams College, starting this Fall.
Neither of Nate’s parents, Marty and Amy, had any experience with lacrosse when Nate was introduced to the game at a young age by his then teacher in San Francisco, Brooke Jenkins. Jenkins is the daughter of legendary high school coach Kathy Jenkins, who set multiple records as the long time head coach of St Stephen’s & St. Agnes School outside of Washington D.C. Brooke Jenkins was a standout player in college at the University of Pennsylvania.
Felsenthal was an All-American attack at Marin Academy.
“Ms Jenkins ran a clinic for 1st graders, and that’s when I first played and fell in love with lacrosse,” Nate recalled. “I just remember loving the speed of the game. It was very up tempo. As someone who was already playing other sports at the time, I also remember that in lacrosse, there was a lot of camaraderie among the players, not just on my team, but with other teams too. I saw early on that lacrosse helped me make great new friends.”
“Amy and I didn’t know lacrosse at all,” said Marty Felsenthal, Nate’s dad. “This entire journey has been driven by Nate. He chose the sport, he chose his teams, and he chose how hard he wanted to work at it. This has been totally self directed by Nate the whole way. I’m so grateful for the life lessons and proud of him – choose what makes you happy, choose how hard you want to apply yourself, advocate for yourself, and then experience the relationship between that work and your results.”
Nate played basketball, soccer and ran cross country alongside lacrosse for most of his journey. He played on a variety of club lacrosse teams over the years. The summer after his freshman year of high school at Marin Academy, Nate decided to start playing for ADVNC.
“The thing that stuck out to me about ADVNC right away was that it’s a family,” said Nate. “I was a new person in the program, but from my very first practice with ADVNC, all the players and their families welcomed me with open arms. I always loved lacrosse and ADVNC helped me enjoy the sport even more. That’s because of the great guys in the program as well as the coaches. The coaches are phenomenal people - they are all so outgoing, love the game so much, are great practice coaches, are great game coaches, and are great life role models.”
Felsenthal, running the offense with the ADVNC NDP ‘24s at Crabfeast.
“Like the rest of his journey, the decision to join ADVNC was directed by Nate,” said Marty Felsenthal, “and it has been an absolutely great experience. Yes, he got to play a sport he loves, and he was able to achieve something that was important to him (playing lacrosse at a wonderful college). But along the way he made lifelong friendships with so many of his ADVNC teammates, and he learned so much about discipline, responsibility, accountability, self-advocacy, teamwork, and leadership from the coaches.”
“We’ve traveled so much with ADVNC, and so many of the families have become very close friends,” said Amy Felsenthal. “All the kids and their families just truly enjoyed being together. Everyone gelled, on and off the field. That made the experience really fun.”
After two years of playing with ADVNC, Nate was prepared for the college recruiting process that began in September at the start of his junior year. “All of the clear and transparent feedback I was receiving from colleges came through Chris Rotelli (ADVNC Founder & CEO) and Jono Zissi, the head of West Coast Starz. Coach Rotelli helped me create a list of schools that I wanted to target. I was fortunate to get some interest from DI schools, but I knew they weren’t the right fit for me. So I started to target my search on DIII schools.”
Nate looked at several schools, but he really enjoyed a prospect camp he attended at Williams College and was impressed with the outreach done by ADVNC Alum and current Williams defenseman Aidan Housenbold. “Aidan approached me at the Ephs prospect camp,” Nate recalled. “I was just a timid 16 year old wearing a Marin Academy helmet at the time. Aidan knew I played for ADVNC, just as he had. He started texting me regularly, checking in on how my recruitment was going. He was really nice, and made a big impact on my recruitment and decision.”
Ultimately, Nate fell in love with Williams and committed there. “It has the perfect balance of academics and athletics. I love lacrosse, but I knew I didn't want it to feel like a job in college. I could tell that the players at Williams were all best friends and treated each other like family. They have wonderful academic programs that I hope to take advantage of. I’m thinking of majoring in either economics or history.”
“I couldn’t be more proud of Nate’s decision,” said Amy Felsenthal. “No one on my side of the family has ever played a sport in college. I think Nate would be bored without sports in college. He loves the exercise, camaraderie, and friendships. This feels like a great fit for him.”
Nate credits his many coaches over the years in addition to Rotelli and Zissi. He said his Marin Academy coach Skyler Hopkins has been instrumental in his success. He also gives credit to his other ADVNC coaches, specifically BJ Grill and Joe Reid, as well as countless other coaches over the years. “All of these guys have taught me life lessons that I will carry well beyond my time on the lacrosse field.”
Nate has long admired the game of two guys who play at the X as he does, former Penn State standout Grant Ament and former Princeton and Duke star Michael Sowers. “They are both shorter players like me, and I love the way they move, pass, and create plays for their teammates. I’m a guy who would rather get an assist than a goal, and I admire the same thing in both Grant and Michael. I would often watch them play on my phone and go out in my backyard and try to replicate what I saw them do.”
Nate has this advice for young players who admire his game. “It takes sacrifice. There is a fine balance to strike in trying to achieve your goals while also maintaining friendships and having fun. The real work happens when no one is watching. But that should never feel like a job. It should always be fun. This is an amazing sport because someone like me, who’s 5’8” on a good day, can still make a meaningful impact on the field with that kind of hard work.”