All profiles appear as written at the time of induction.
A four-time soccer All-New England pick from 1972-75 as a player, Abolfazli capped his impressive career earning All-America honors as a senior in 1975. He returned to Clark’s athletic department in 1978 for a 10-year stint as head coach of the men’s soccer program; and he served as Clark’s first full-time sports information director from 1981-87.
As men’s soccer coach, Abolfazli led the Cougars to their most successful season in school history. Under his direction, Clark was selected to five consecutive post-season tournaments from 1983-87. In the 1983 season, the Cougars posted an undefeated 14--0-2 record and were the only undefeated Division III team in the nation that year. Clark capped the season by winning the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championship. One year later, Abolfazli’s squad won the ECAC overall championship, becoming the first New England team to win that title. The Cougars twice advanced to the NCAA Northeast Region Championship game in 1985 and 1987. Abolfazliwas honored by his peers in 1986 when he was selected as the New England Division III Coach of the Year.
Abolfazli graduated from Clark in 1976 with a B.A. (cum laude with honors, Phi Beta Kappa) in government and international relations. He then completed a Master of Arts program at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in 1978. In 1986, he earned a Master of Arts degree in Clark’s international development and social change program.
Abolfazli remains active in coaching, serving as a volunteer assistant for the women’s varsity team at Clark and with the Fuller Hamlets Soccer Club in Sutton. He currently works as Director of Marketing for Allenbrook/AMS, Inc. in Lowell, MA. Massood and his wife, Dawn McCabe, have three children: Cameron (6), Laina (4), and Aidan (1).
A three-sport standout, Brigida competed in basketball, cross country, and track and field while at Clark, earning successes in all three sports.
One of New England’s top track and field athletes while at Clark, Brigida was an All-American selection in the 400m as he placed fifth at the NCAA National Championship in that event in 1983. He earned All-New England honors in the 400m and hte high jump all four years. In 1983, he won the New England Division III indoor high jump event with a personal best of 6’8”. At the 1983 New England Outdoor Track and Field Championship, Brigida was the all-divisions champion in the 400m, while also winning the Division III high jump; and he was the recipient of the Sabe Award, given to the outstanding Division III track and field performer at that meet. Brigida also was the Worcester City Champion for four years in both the 400m and the high jump.
A three-year varsity basketball player, he was part of the Cougar squad that was the NCAA National Runner-Up in 1984. Running cross country, he was one of Clark’s top four runners in his four season on the Cougar squad.
For his accomplishments both in athletics and academics, Brigida was a two-time recipient of the Clark Athletic Department’s Granger Award as the top male scholar-athlete in 1983 and 1984. He also was honored with the department’s Hebert Award in 1984 as the top male senior athlete.
Brigida returned to Clark in 1986 to coach the men’s and women’s cross country teams. In the fall of 1995, he directed the women’s squad to the Worcester City Championship. In addition to coaching at Clark, Brigida has taught math at St. Mary’s High School since 1986.
Clark’s second female athlete to receive All-America honors for three years (1985, 1987, and 1988), Ferraro made four consecutive appearances at the NCAA Division III Diving Championships. Three times she was an NCAA Top 10 finisher, and she was the national runner-up ont he three-meter board in 1988. A two-year Clark diving captain, Ferraro graduacted with school records in the one-meter 11 dive event, and three-meter 11 dive event.
For her performances in diving and in the classroom, Ferraro was a two-time recipient of the Clark Athletice Department’s Higgins Award as the top female scholar-athlete in 1987 and 1988. She also was honored with the department’s Hughes Trophy as the outstanding female senior athlete in 1988. Ferraro graduated cum laude with a double major in business management and economics, in which she earned departmental honors. She was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honor society and was a member of Omicron Delta Epsilon, the economics honors society.
Following graduation from Clark, Ferraro went on to earn her master of business administration degree, majoring in finance, from New York University’s Stern School of Business in 1993. She currently in the vice president and portfolio manager at the Amalgamated Bank of New York in New York City. She is married to Craig Malloy.
A two-sport stand-out at Clark from 1939-42, Shopes was a four-year starter in soccer and basketball. He captained the soccer team as a junior and was captain-elect for the basketball squad his senior season.
While and undergraduate, Shopes was the vice president-elect of the Student Body Organization and the Gryphon Honor Society. After serving in the U.S. Navy, Shopes returned to Clark in 1946 to earn his degree in economics; and he was selected to “Who’s Who in American Universities and Colleges.” He as Clark’s junior varsity soccer and basketball coach in 1946-47. In addition, he served as assistant athletic director and intramural coordinator, he also taught classes in the physical education program.
Shopes’ talents on the basketball court earned him selection to play on the Worcester Irish American team in the New England Professional Basketball League. On that team, Shopes was paired with two previous Clark Hall of Fame inductees: Ziggy Strzelecki ‘43, who was one of Clark’s inaugural Hall of Fame inductees in 1984, and Ray Manarel ‘41, a 1995 Hall of Fame inductee. Shopes also contributed to the sports world as a high school official for the sports of track and field (40 years), basketball (27 years), and soccer (27 years).
In addition to his time in the U.S. Navy, Shopes worked for the Kodak Company in Rochester, NY; he earned a master’s degree from Columbia University in 1952. From 1947-53, he taught and coached in Hillsboro, NH, in 1953, he returned to Rochester where he spent the next 26 years teaching business courses and coaching at the high school level. In 1979, Shopes retired from his teaching and department head position at Benjamin Franklin High School. He currently resides in Rochester, NY.
Louis and his wife, Jean, have two children: Nancy and Alan.