SportsKid of the Year

Zaila Avant-garde Talks About How She Came To Her Spelling Success

Zaila Avant-garde Can Also Dribble While Spelling, You Losers

 Zaila Avant-garde Makes Spelling History, and Other Moments from the Bee 


Photo of Zaila Avant-garde. She is wearing a white headband, a yellow sweatshirt over a blue athletic t-shirt, blue jeans, and basketball sneakers. She is kneeling behind a Harlem Globetrotters basketball.

Zaila Avant-garde Headshot 2022

Zaila Avant-Garde

It Is Not Bragging If It Is True

It's Not Bragging If It's True

Keynote Speaker Profile & Booking Details for Zaila Avant-Garde. Contact UTA Speakers to book top rated talent for live, hybrid, and virtual events.

Zaila Avant-Garde | Booking & Contact Info | UTA Speakers

Zaila Avant-garde is a multi-talented powerhouse, with success springing from all her endeavors and all before the ninth grade. She was named "SportsKid of the Year 2021" by Sports Illustrated Kids.

Hailing from New Orleans, Louisiana, she won the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee, making her the first African-American to win in almost 100 years of the competition. Avant-garde landed on her winning word, 'murraya' — a type of tree —by associating the word with famous comedian Bill Murray, who surprised her by phoning in during her appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Avant-garde’s spelling triumph is just one entry on a very impressive resume. Along with competing in spelling bees for two years, Avant-garde holds two Guinness World Records for her basketball prowess. She holds the records for the most bounce juggles in one minute with four basketballs and most basketballs dribbled simultaneously by one person (at 6 basketballs).

Her first book, It's Not Bragging If It's True is a newly released New York Times best-seller and gathering acclaim. With passion and poise, Zaila inspires her contempories to embrace their inner weirdness and persevere through obstacles in an empowering collection of true stories.

Her success has been celebrated by the likes of Barack and Michelle Obama, LeBron James, and Dr. Jill Biden, who attended the bee. Since winning the Bee, Zaila has appeared in a cameo role in Netflix’s HUSTLE, as well as NBA on TNT, and Peacock’s Kid’s Tonight Show. You can also see her displaying her basketball skills in brand campaigns for Carnival Cruise Lines, BYJU, Xbox, and Gymshark.

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Spelling Bee champion Zaila Avant-garde on her new book and top tips for success

Zaila Shares Her Spelling Tips and Amazing Abilities