Charlie Tagliaferri is a standout attackman who played for seven years on the ADVNC SF ‘21 team, and will be playing for Tufts University starting this Fall.
Charlie has many fond memories of his days spent playing for the Scorpions.
Charlie is the youngest of 5 children. Charlie’s oldest brother, Michael, who is nine and a half years older than Charlie, won a national championship on the 2016 UNC Tarheels team. His second oldest brother, Peter, who is seven and a half years older than Charlie, played for the Georgetown Hoyas.
“My older brothers started me playing lacrosse really early,” said Charlie. “They gave me a stick at a very young age .. basically as soon as I could walk, and they started teaching me how to play right away. They even tried convincing me that I was a lefty, but eventually I figured out that I really was a right handed player.”
Charlie started playing on the Scorpions as a young boy. “Some of my best memories playing lacrosse came playing against the Firehawks in Championship games when I was with the Scorpions,” Charlie said.
Charlie joined ADVNC in the 5th grade.
When Charlie was in 5th grade, he decided he was ready to play travel club lacrosse. He tried out for ADVNC and two other club teams in the Bay Area. “He came home after the last tryout and said, ‘I love ADVNC the best,’” said Charlie’s mom, Carol Tagliaferri. “He told me: ‘ADVNC has the best talent and I like all the other guys on the team the best.’”
“ADVNC was clearly head and shoulders above the rest of the other clubs I tried out for,” said Charlie. “We had a group of guys from St Ignatius, then a group from Sacred Heart Prep, and then, Cole Braun (Monte Vista HS) and myself (San Ramon Valley HS) from the East Bay. We all easily became best friends. Everyone was very welcoming. We would get along great together in practice and that translated over to the games.”
That group of young players became the foundation of the ADVNC SF ‘21 team that went onto become the first team from Northern California to win consistently at multiple national tournaments on the East Coast.
“Eventually, we started getting most of the other best players from around the Bay,” said Charlie. “We got the best guys and everyone wanted to play for us. That’s when we really proved we could play with all the other best club teams in the country. We wanted to go back East and compete in the Summer. We wanted to win.”
And win, they did. Among many other accomplishments, that team went to back to back Finals at the ultra-prestigious Naptown Challenge in Annapolis, MD. That team has 16 players who are set to start playing major college lacrosse this Fall.
The ADVNC SF ‘21 team hanging out at the 2021 Vail Lacrosse Shootout.
Many of Charlie’s ADVNC teammates committed to college as soon as they were able to, in the early Fall of 2019. For Charlie, the process was slower, and his recruitment ran directly into the Pandemic. “It was really weird not being able to go out and visit colleges because of COVID,” said Charlie. “So I had to be patient.”
Charlie relied on his coaches with ADVNC to help him through the college recruiting process. He credits Jack Huber, Max Feely and ADVNC Founder/CEO, Chris Rotelli. “They were always letting me know that they were gonna reach out to this coach or that coach and tell them about me,” Charlie said. “That was very helpful.”
“Those guys were absolutely instrumental,” said Charlie’s dad, John Tagliaferri. “They were guiding us through a difficult, confusing and unprecedented recruiting process. They did all they could to promote Charlie.”
“Both Coach Huber and Feely were a major part of the last 10 years of Charlie’s life,” said Carol Tagliaferri. “They were the rare coaches who could not only be a mentor and coach, but were also a friend to all the boys. They were great leaders for a squad of boys who are all now very close friends and will remain that way.”
Eventually, Charlie chose to play for Tufts University, a powerhouse in the prestigious Division III NESCAC.
The entire Tagliaferri family celebrated Michael (middle) winning the National Championship with the UNC Tarheels in 2016.
“They have a great pedigree,” said Charlie. “They are always competing for a National Championship and I want to win.”
Charlie is driven by seeing his older brother play for UNC and win a national title for the Tarheels. “Getting to see Michael commit to UNC and then visiting him there, I said: that’s what I want to do,” Charlie said. “And then I was in 7th grade in 2016 when he won the National Championship. It was an experience like no other. Our whole family went. When Chris Cloutier scored the winning goal, I was one of the very first people to run down so I could hug Michael and all the other players.”
With Charlie about to begin his own quest to win a college championship, he looks back on his decade with ADVNC with very fond memories. “I will cherish the friendships I made the most. We have so many memories together on the field, but nothing compares to just hanging out as friends. We are so close. I know I will stay close with some of these guys a long time.”
Charlie (left) with his brother Michael, at the 2021 Adrenaline All American Game.