Sports
5 Super Athletes With Ties To Shelton
From a brand partner: Meet five standout athletes with ties to the area whose accomplishments have made their mark on the sports world.
Sports have a way of teaching invaluable life lessons — building character, fostering teamwork and strengthening the bonds within a community. In the Shelton area, these values have shaped some truly remarkable athletes from different eras, whose accomplishments continue to inspire.
Patch is celebrating five standout athletes whose achievements have left a lasting mark on our community. This list is just a snapshot, with countless other athletes helping shape the rich sports culture in our area.
1. Dan Orlovsky (Football)
A Shelton High School graduate, Dan Orlovsky went on to quarterback UConn before being drafted by the Detroit Lions. He spent 12 seasons in the NFL with the Lions, Texans, Colts and Buccaneers before moving into broadcasting as an ESPN analyst.
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2. Laura Scinto (Basketball & Soccer)
A 1985 Shelton High School graduate, Laura Scinto became the school's first athlete to earn 12 varsity letters, playing soccer, basketball and softball. She helped Shelton win the 1985 CIAC Class LL state championship in basketball before topping 1,175 points at Bryant University and earning a spot in the 2026 Connecticut Women's Basketball Hall of Fame class.
3. The 1962 Shelton "Gaelettes" (Basketball)
Led by coach Bernice Nicolari, the 1962 Shelton High School girls' basketball team broke new ground as the first interscholastic girls' athletic team in both Shelton and the greater Naugatuck Valley. The team had to build the program's budget, uniforms, schedule and transportation from scratch, paving the way for every Shelton girls' team that followed.
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4. Art Botsford (Jai Alai)
A Shelton native, Art Botsford captained the high school track team before finding an unlikely pro career in jai alai, a sport that once drew crowds to frontons in Bridgeport and Milford. He notched his 100th career win in 1989 playing at the Milford Fronton, one of a rare handful of Shelton High grads to reach the professional ranks in any sport.
5. Greg Biercevicz (Baseball & Basketball)
A Shelton High School standout, Greg Biercevicz built his Hall of Fame case across two sports, starring for the Gaels in both baseball and basketball. He was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame as part of its 2020 class.
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