Ottawa teen works hard on and off field

OTTAWA - Before the financial meltdown on Wall Street, Ben Inkrott was considering a career as a stockbroker. Now, however, the Ottawa-Glandorf High School senior has set his sights on science.

"The whole bailout is confusing. It's hard to know what's best," Ben said. "I realized I'm more of a people person. I love working with people, and I think anatomy is really interesting, so now I'm thinking of becoming a physician, maybe a sports physician to stay involved in sports."

Ben, a three-year member of the Titan varsity football team, has been playing football for the past eight years. He said football has shaped his work ethic.

"It's taught me a lot about hard work and determination. It's taught me that if you work hard, you can achieve anything," he said.

On the field, Ben set a personal goal of achieving league honors. First he worked his way onto varsity special teams as a freshman, then secured a starting position his sophomore year. From there, he earned All Western Buckeye League and All District honors.

Ben said he enjoys weightlifting and works year-round to improve his performance.

"I've been working hard in the gym since the eighth grade," he said.

Ben said he gets his drive and determination from his father, Al Inkrott.

"He's always pushing me to be the best I can be," he said. "Without him, I wouldn't be where I'm at right now."

On and off the field, Ben said he strives to do his best.

"I've been working really hard at becoming a positive influence on younger people. When you walk out of the locker room and see all those little kids giving you high-fives, it's cool to see you have people looking up to you," he said. "It made me realize what a role model is and the responsibility I have."

Despite his love of the game and being part of a team, Ben said he does not plan to play football in college.

"I've played for a long time, and now it's time to move on and focus on my future career," he said, not that his academics have taken a back seat to sports. He said he has worked hard to maintain a 4.0 grade-point average each quarter.

At Ottawa-Glandorf, Ben is vice president of Student Council, treasurer of the National Honor Society, president of the Spanish Club, a member of the Science Olympiad team and volunteers as an aide in the high school office. He has assisted with service projects and tutored at Ottawa Elementary School through the National Honor Society. With the football team, he helped with flood-mitigation efforts and cleanup.

Ben also has completed community service projects with the Boy Scouts. He is an Eagle Scout member of Troop 224 in Ottawa. In 2005, he attached identification tags on all fire hydrants in the village for his Eagle Scout project.

Outside school, football and Scouting, Ben serves as an usher at SS. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Ottawa, umpires Little League and Pony League baseball games and enjoys wakeboarding and other water sports.

"I just started wakeboarding this year," he said, "but next year, since I won't have football, I can start getting into it more heavily."