Max Litton Selected for Junior Sportsmanship Award

Max Litton — a USTA Missouri standout junior competitor and Rock Bridge High School senior — was recently chosen as a junior sportsmanship award-winner for the first quarter of 2022 by USTA Missouri Valley.

Litton’s strong sportsmanship was on display at a Level 4 Open junior tournament that took place February 12-14 indoors at Clayview Country Club in Kansas City, Mo. Litton — who reached the semifinals of the boys’ 18s singles event and ultimately finished in third place — won the doubles tournament alongside partner Aidan Chung of Chapel Hill, N.C.

“Max had a positive attitude on and off the court,” said Tournament Director Alyson Bollinger in her sportsmanship nomination of Litton. “He was very complimentary with his doubles partner, who he first met at the tournament. He actually offered friendly advice to his partner while playing and never looked down on him when errors occurred.”

Litton’s coach at Rock Bridge High School, Ben Loeb, said Litton earning a sportsmanship accolade comes as no surprise. Loeb listed Litton’s greatest on-court strengths as his tenacity, competitiveness, footspeed and ball-striking ability.

“Max always shows good sportsmanship,” Loeb said. “He never shows up his opponent. He accepts victory with humility. Though he does not like to lose, he handles it with class. … Both of Max’s parents have instilled in him how to act on the tennis court and how to deal with victory and defeat. His father is a good tennis player who leads by example.”

Litton was selected as the USTA Missouri Junior Male Player of the Year in both 2018 and 2019. He recently signed a letter of intent to compete collegiately for Colgate University, an NCAA Division-I school located in Hamilton, N.Y.