Photo provided.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Senior athlete Max Ott was named as an Honorable Mention to the Suburban Council League All Stars.
Ott has participated in sports since he was a child, from dribbling a basketball up and down a court, to taking on the mentally challenging game of baseball. In his junior year after attending a summer volleyball clinic he fell in love with the sport and it soon became his favorite sport to play.
“I picked it up late, I picked it up my junior year. And it’s just a sport that kinda came naturally,” said Ott. “Baseball is more of a mental game, where volleyball, you’re kinda just always active and doing something.”
As one of the captains of Saratoga Springs High School’s Varsity volleyball team Ott takes pride doing his best to encourage his fellow teammates and help keep everyone motivated.
“During games I can tell you, after every point we come and huddle. We’ll either get out and encourage each other if we’re doing good. We’ll try to bring each other up if someone messes up - which is just a pretty cool dynamic,” said Ott.
Throughout his years of athletics Ott has had a supportive team behind – off the court.
“I definitely have to say my parents because they’ve been supportive of whatever sport I’ve wanted to play,” said Ott. “If I wanna do club teams or travel teams they pay, they make sure to show up to all of my games, even the away games - which is pretty cool.”
In his final year playing volleyball for SSHS, the team had a new member – their coach, David Brown. In that short amount of time Ott names Brown not only as one of the best coaches he’s ever had, but as someone who has most influenced his game.
“I would just attribute a lot of my success during the season to him,” said Ott.
Off the court, Ott is a diligent student who can often be found studying in between practices and training.
“I take academics really seriously. Usually what I do after practices during the season, I drive to the public library a lot and I spend a lot of time there just making sure i get my homework done before returning home.”
Ott is applying to colleges, where he plans to continue to study just as diligently and pursue a club volleyball team.
