Noël Robin Ott (born 15 January 1994) is a Swiss beach soccer player who plays as a forward for the Switzerland national team.
[1] Known for his pace across the sand and technical abilities in scoring many goals, Ott came to prominence in the sport in 2014, excelling during the European season; he was named best young player in the world that year.
He was originally tutored by Stephan Meier and Moritz Jaggy, members of the Swiss national team Ott would ultimately play alongside of.
[5][7][9][10] Following this rejection, Franziska Steinemann, future coach of the Switzerland women’s team and a friend of Ott's mother, invited him to play with club side Havana Shots Aargau of the Suzuki Swiss National Beach Soccer League.
[8] Initially, Ott attempted to continue his football career, joining FC Baden of the Swiss fourth tier for a year whilst also playing for Havana Shots;[5][11] he made rapid progress with the latter.
[6] In 2015, he also moved from Havana Shots back to his childhood club of Grasshoppers, this time their beach soccer branch, having been persuaded by Swiss colleague Dejan Stankovic.
[14] His performances led him to be nominated for the MVP award at the 2021 Swiss Sports Personality of the Year ceremony[15] – he finished in fifth place with 6.3% of the vote.
[4][6] His pace is also frequently referenced as his strength, with an ability to glide quickly across the pitch without his feet sinking into the soft sand surface;[7][10] fellow teammate Dejan Stankovic has similarly talked of Ott's "lightness on the ball", that allows him to "dance around opponents".
[7][9] He attempted to make a full time living from the sport in 2017 but found life in Switzerland too expensive to survive on payments available to beach soccer players.
[10] Within beach soccer, he looks up to Portuguese brothers Leo and Bê Martins but says the most important people in his career have been Swiss coach Angelo Schirinzi and teammate Dejan Stankovic.