HIGH ACHIEVERS: Offensive lineman Max Vivier decides one year early to commit to University of Connecticut

By Martin Cleary

Learning to play football is challenging enough as young players work on skill development, remembering the playbook and communicating in the language of the game.

But when you immerse yourself into the combative sport having to use your second language, that makes getting a grip on it even more difficult.

Max Vivier totally understands that double dilemma. But he has faced and overcome those issues in recent years and is now an NCAA Division 1 scholarship athlete.

Vivier struggled in his first five years in the Cumberland Panthers’ organization and had reduced playing time because his first language is French and he was having difficulty learning the game from English-speaking coaches.

There were times he wanted to pack up his bag and leave the sport. But his overall love of football wouldn’t allow him to abandon the game.

In his final two years with the Panthers as an offensive and defensive lineman and a long snapper for the bantam team, Vivier felt he had finally become a complete player and saw full-time duty on the field.

Those two years were the starting point for chasing the dream of earning a full football scholarship at an NCAA Division 1 university. By developing his English-speaking and football skills, Vivier, 18, was offered and verbally accepted a scholarship to the University of Connecticut to play for the Huskies football program in the 2026-27 academic season.

Vivier will return to Saint James School in Hagerstown, Maryland in August for his third and final year, which is his Grade 12 senior year.

Teammate Alex Fletcher of Ottawa graduated this year from Saint James and is committed to attend the Ivy League’s University of Pennsylvania and play for the Quakers.

Fletcher was a three-time Washington County and Mid-Atlantic Conference all-star as an offensive lineman and a two-time winner of the Barry Beers Award as the county’s offensive lineman of the year.

Read More: Alex Fletcher grew out of hockey, but into being a football all-star

“I wasn’t the best,” Vivier said in a phone interview this week about his early days playing at the tyke, mosquito and peewee levels for the Panthers. “I was decent. I started to do well after. I didn’t play a lot.”

Vivier had difficulty understanding the game because of his limited English. He studied in French at College catholique Mer Bleue in Orleans for Grades 7-10.

“My schooling was all in French. Once I started playing football, I didn’t understand the language. I followed what I was seeing from my teammates. That’s why I developed late as a player,” he added.

On two occasions, Vivier considered walking away from the game because of the difficulty understanding and learning the basics.

“I didn’t want to play another season. What’s the point, when you’re not playing,” he reasoned. “But I kept going and it paid off. I loved the game. I loved football all my life and wanted to play. I started each year to be the best player on the field.”

During his final bantam season with the Panthers, he was selected to play for a National Capital Amateur Football Association all-star team for a game against a star-studded team from Quebec. It was a perfect opportunity for football scouts, including Saint James coaches John Root and Colin Ponder.

“Two coaches from Saint James came to the game to scout and see if there were any players (for their team),” Vivier said. “They came to my parents after the game to talk to them.

“I was a bit surprised. I wasn’t sure what it was about. I knew football was big in the U.S. But I decided to go to the States, after thinking it over.”

Root and Ponder were impressed with Vivier’s size (six feet, five inches and 225 pounds at the time), speed and ability to finish a play. They asked Vivier if he was interested in advancing his game at Saint James. He thought about it and said yes.

In May, coaches from Connecticut visited Saint James to watch a workout and put Vivier through some drills. When it was over, they offered him a scholarship and he later accepted.

“That’s my school, my home,” Vivier declared.

In his first year (2023-24) at Saint James, he had to work hard academically because he was still developing his English language skills. But with the help of his teammates, teachers and advisors, he gradually cleared that hurdle. One of the team’s football coaches also taught him English in the classroom.

Last summer, he took an online course to continue to improve his English, when it came to speaking, writing essays and reading. At the end of the 2024-25 school year, he received an award from Saint James for improving his English competency.

Vivier also was an award winner on the football field. For the 2023 and 2024 seasons, he was named to the All-Washington County first all-star team as an offensive and defensive lineman.

While many student-athletes will wait until their senior year to commit to a university, Vivier wanted to complete that education assignment in his Grade 11 junior year.

By the time he received an offer from Connecticut, he already had offers from Marshall and Temple as well as Sacred Heart, Towson and Maine. He labelled his university visit to Connecticut ‘awesome,’ after meeting the coaches and players.

“The coaches were extremely helpful and the team was family oriented,” said Vivier, who will study biology at Connecticut. “The school felt like a Saint James vibe. It felt close to home.”

He called it a relief to have his university plan figured out a year in advance.

“I wanted to make it early to avoid the stress,” he said. “For me, there was stress talking to every coach, every day and updating them.”

Vivier also spoke to two former Canadian players on the Huskies’ roster, who are now in the CFL, to get their thoughts on Connecticut’s football program and the university.

High-performance sports is a popular subject in the Vivier home.

Dominique, who is Max’s older sister, is a national-level curler. She skipped her Ottawa Hunt rinks to the Ontario women’s U20 championship this year and the provincial women’s U18 title in 2024. advancing to the Canadian championships both years. She is entering her third year at Wilfrid Laurier University in 2025-26.

Gabrielle, the youngest of the Vivier children, is a member of the Ottawa Hawks and focused on developing into an elite flag football player.

Read More of our 2025 High School Best Series as we tip our caps to top local student-athletes at: OttawaSportsPages.ca/Ottawa-High-School-Best-2025

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