Grant Guthrie is a standout face off specialist from Sacramento who is committed to realizing his dream of playing DI lacrosse at Bellarmine University.
Like many kids who eventually found lacrosse, Grant was playing a bunch of other sports as a kid when he saw a classmate playing lacrosse wall ball at his elementary school when he was eight years old. He went home and asked his parents if he could get a stick.
Grant loved lacrosse from the very beginning, and started playing in his hometown of Folsom, CA
“Shortly after he got that stick, we were driving to practice for another sport, and we saw kids practicing lacrosse on the next field,” said Grant’s dad, Josh Guthrie. “We saw helmets, sticks and pads and it looked really interesting and fun. I told Grant that’s lacrosse practice, that it’s new to the West Coast, and that it’s probably the best sport in the world.”
Soon, Grant signed up to play on his local lacrosse youth team. “I remember it being very, very hard,” said Grant. “It took me 3 days just to learn how to cradle. But then it started feeling easier and more fun. We worked our way to shooting, passing and stuff like that. I was hooked.”
“The reason I say it’s the best sport in the world, is because lacrosse is a great combo of being a coach’s sport and a player’s sport. Wrestling is a player’s sport. On the opposite side is football, that’s more of a coach’s sport. I like that lacrosse is a good combo. The kids have flexibility to ab lib on the field and still adhere to the coach’s philosophy.”
Grant’s mom Grace began trying to understand the sport that was all of a sudden capturing all of her son’s time and interest. “I read that lacrosse was a ‘medicine’ sport that focused on creating positive energy and valued teamwork,” said Grace. I remember thinking, wow, that’s exactly how this feels.”
Grant played a variety of positions on various teams as his game developed. But he always had his eye on becoming a face off man. He got his chance with his ADVNC Sacramento team in Vail, the summer after his 8th grade year. “Coach Dave Gravlin put me in and I got crushed,” said Grant. “I went 2 for 9. But in the airplane terminal on the way home I started watching face off videos on my phone, trying to figure it all out. I was totally hooked.”
“Between games at that tournament in Vail, I was sitting in the bleachers with my assistant coach, lamenting our inability to win faceoffs,” said Dave Gravlin. “As I was talking about how we needed a ‘warrior type’ who we could focus on developing that one, very important skill, Grant walked past my field of view, and the light bulb went off. I asked my assistant to work with him for a few minutes prior to the next game so he could take faceoffs. After that, Grant was on a mission to develop himself into a DI FOGO.”
Guthrie was an outstanding FOGO on the ADVNC NDP ‘22 team.
“Grant had wanted to face off for a long time but was never really given the chance,” said Josh Guthrie. “When Coach Gravlin let him face off, it changed Grant’s outlook on life. Grant changed as a person.”
“Coach Gravlin talked to me about becoming a face off guy and how I had to take it seriously,” Grant said. “He told me about his own high school basketball experience and how he felt like he could always do a little more. He said that I shouldn’t ever feel like that. That resonated with me so heavily. I went and started practicing face offs for hours. I did not want to waste my opportunity. I just wanted to leave it all out there.”
“Even if we had accomplished nothing else on the lacrosse field, Grant is, without a doubt, the one player who’s story makes me know that all of the hours spent coaching this sport over the past 10+ years was time well spent,” said Gravlin.
“The coaching, as well as the camaraderie with such a great group of players and people has been truly amazing,” said Grace Guthrie. “The coaches Grant has had through ADVNC became role models and inspired him on and off the field. They helped him become a better teammate and player by teaching him values and skills, building on his strengths, and believing in him and challenging him.”
By the time Grant was a rising junior in the Fall of 2020, he was a legit DI FOGO prospect and officially began the recruiting process during the pandemic. “I really liked the recruiting process, even though it was stressful and hard to do during the pandemic,” said Grant. “There were a lot of Zooms and Facetimes with coaches. That was difficult not being able to visit in person. But I liked the vibe and focus on my academic success at Bellarmine.”
“Coach Rotelli (ADVNC Founder & CEO, Chris Rotelli) did tons to help me,” said Grant. “The first phone call I had with the Bellarmine coaches, they said they had just talked to Coach Rotelli and he said I was a hell of a face off guy. He was a huge help in all of that.”
“Getting a DI scholarship is a dream come true for us. Grant could not live this experience if it wasn’t for ADVNC and Coach Rotelli. I get emotional about it," said Josh Guthrie.
Grant and his brother, Ryland
Away from lacrosse, life took an unexpected turn for the Guthrie’s as well. “When Grant was 13 years old, he convinced my wife and I to take in a family friend’s child who was in need,” said Josh Guthrie. “This was something we weren’t prepared to do, but Grant offered to make the transition easier by sharing his room with Ryland. He shares his room to this day and will till the day he leaves for college. It is an amazing thing and I couldn’t be more proud.”
“From the very beginning, Grant and Ryland bonded over lacrosse and it became a connection that would continue to grow and develop,” said Grace Guthrie. “The ADVNC players and their families became an important part of our lives, spending time together on the sidelines, traveling and enjoying new experiences across the country.”
Grant puts his full effort into everything he does, especially facing off. “I want to be the best at what I do,” said Grant. “That is my main motivation. That’s why I practice face-offs so hard.”
“There were a few years that it seemed he practiced facing off non-stop,” said Grace Guthrie. “Josh and I would have to monitor him so he wouldn’t practice through the night.”
Grant says he’s planning on going to Bellarmine with tangible goals in mind. He wants to be the best face off guy on the team and looks forward to facing off against the best FOGOs in the country. He has big goals off the field as well.
“I want to study finance at Bellarmine and I want to go into stocks,” said Grant. “I had an econ class in high school and I just love the stocks. I am addicted to those lessons. I am so, so interested in it. I would love to work in stocks after college.”