Suffield, Connecticut
Mary-Jane Doyon Hussey
Field Hockey, Basketball, Softball, Coach, Special Olympics
Inducted in 2003
In 1972, Title IX opened the doors for female athletes to take center stage and Mary-Jane took full advantage of the opportunity presented. A versatile three-sport athlete, she played three years of varsity field hockey, four years of basketball, and four years of softball.
In field hockey, she was All NCCC playing goalie for the Wildcats. Captain in her senior year, in the very last game as a high school player against Tolland, she scored the only goal of her career and it lifted Suffield to a 1-0 win!
A prolific scorer and rebounder in basketball, she started all four years and became the first girl in SHS history to score 1000 points. The biggest night of her career came against East Granby when she scored 34 points. With Mary-Jane leading the way, Suffield captured three NCCC titles over her four years and was a regular participant in the State Tournament. For her efforts, she received multiple team MVP and All NCCC honors and was honorable mention for the prestigious All State team. She was team captain in her senior year.
Team captain in softball, as well, Mary-Jane had an outstanding four-year career as an infielder. Here, too, she won multiple team MVP and All NCCC honors.
Mary-Jane continued her education at the University of Maine in Farmington where she played both field hockey (three years) and basketball (two years). As a goalie in field hockey, she was named team MVP her freshman year, when in one game she made an astounding 35 saves! In her two years of varsity basketball, UMF was 27 and 9 with Mary-Jane the second leading scorer as a freshman and leading scorer as a sophomore. The Dean’s List student graduated in 1982 with an outstanding GPA of 3.75 and was inducted into Kappa Delta Pi, a national honor society for education majors, in 1981.
A special education teacher, Mary-Jane is a long-time volunteer for Special Olympics and continues to be active in Windsor Locks where she began the Special Olympic Program in 1997. She coached the Windsor Locks High School field hockey team from 1986 to 1992.
