Martinik-Shoop, Michelle

Michelle Martinik Shoop started playing basketball as a third-grader at the recreational level and she’s still involved coaching her own daughter’s rec team in Orange. In between, she’s compiled a hall of fame resume, beginning with her achievements as a two-time all-state player and 1,000-point scorer at Masuk High School and continuing through her playing career at Southern Connecticut State University – the Owls won the 2007 Division II national championship – and as the 13-year head coach of the Amity High School girls’ basketball team.

Shoop is a member of the Masuk Athletic Hall of Fame, the Southern Connecticut Athletic Hall of Fame as a member of the national championship team and now a part of the Connecticut Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, all in a sport which has always stood out to her as “special.”

“First and foremost because of the relationships you build with your coaches and teammates,” she said, listing a few of the reasons basketball has been a part of her life for so long. “Beyond the relationships, there’s the pure thrill of being on the court. Unlike many other sports, basketball always gives you a chance to make an impact.”

Shoop is a 2004 graduate of Masuk, where the Panthers won South-West Conference championships in 2002-2004 and finished as the Class LL state runner-up in 2001. Shoop was a three-year starter, three-time all-league selection and a two-time captain.

At Southern Connecticut, Shoop started on the 2007 team which defeated Florida Gulf Coast to win the national championship. That team also won its third straight Northeast-10 Conference regular-season title and second consecutive league tournament title, finishing 34-2. Shoop graduated as the Owls’ all-time leader in games played at 129.

Of course, that whole time, Shoop was learning from the best. Masuk coach Dave Strong remained Connecticut’s all-time wins leader for many years, accumulating 704, and Southern coach Joe Frager went on to a successful career as the head women’s coach at Fairfield. Both are members of the Connecticut Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.

“I remember a practice at Southern when coach Frager told me that I was going to be a great coach one day,” said Shoop, named the New Haven Register’s All-Area Coach of the Year in 2014 after Amity’s 21-4 season. “That moment stuck with me and it reinforced my passion for coaching.”

Shoop is currently the head of the math department at Amity, stepping away from coaching. But basketball and the relationships she’s built are never far from her thoughts.

“Just this past winter when the Amity boys’ basketball team played at Masuk, my students saw my all-state banners hanging in the gym,” she said. “When they found out I was also a national champion, my street cred in the classroom skyrocketed.
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My family has always been deeply rooted in sports. ... Now, as my own children are still young and exploring their interests, I can only hope to support and encourage them in whatever they choose to pursue, just as my family did for me.”