You don’t have to be a basketball expert to know talent when you see it. Sophie Zirkin, a Park School senior and Pikesville resident, is a rising star with a passion for the game and dedication to honing her skills.
Last year, Sophie, 16, broke the Maryland high school three-point single season record with 99 “threes” in 22 games.
Sophie has played the game her entire life. “I played basketball as soon as I could walk,” she says.
She played in recreational leagues when she was a youngster and moved into more competitive leagues as she got older. She was on the Baltimore basketball team with JCC Maccabi, where she felt a great sense of Jewish community playing the sport that she loves.
“Even though I can get physically tired, I never really get tired of playing,” she says.
And beyond her love for the game, it’s the family connection that means the most to Sophie. “My favorite thing is how close it makes my family because I think it’s definitely made the bond with my dad a lot stronger,” she says.
Basketball is in the Zirkin family DNA — her grandfather, father and sister all play the game.
Her dad, former State Sen. Bobby Zirkin (D-11th), is best known these days as Park School’s basketball coach.
He’s taken on this new gig with a great deal of enthusiasm, and even drove the team in a minibus to a weekend basketball trip away.
For Zirkin, family comes first and basketball is a point of connection.
“My daughters and I are very tight,” he says. “The reason I stepped away from politics in the first place was so that I could spend more time with the girls.”
During the pandemic lockdown while most people were stuck home, the Zirkins took to the court. “Every day during COVID, my daughters and I played basketball together at Coppermine [sports center in Mount Washington],” Zirkin says. “Drilling, shooting, training every day after school. Practice actually was even more intense during COVID.”
In Sophie’s sophomore year, one game stands out for her.
“We had a really hyped-up game,” she remembers. “It was for first place, and it was a super close game, and there was a big crowd. I remember I hit a buzzer-beater at halftime and that rallied us up a lot. We ended up winning the game by, like, five points. It pushed us to the end of the season to work even harder than we already had been.”
The team made it to the championship, and even though they didn’t win, they played well and walked away with a sense of pride.
“We lost in overtime but we made it to the championship, which was really exciting and memorable,” she says.
Hitting far shots is Sophie’s specialty, giving her the nickname of “Mini-Caitlin Clark” after the Women’s National Basketball Association superstar and one of her biggest influences in the game (they even share the same jersey number).
“I’ve definitely seen the reference between the two of us, and she’s just such an amazing player,” Sophie says. “She’s changing not just women’s basketball, but basketball in general. And she’s so fun to watch. I try to copy everything that she does on the court.”
Another influence in the game is Baltimore native “Muggsy” Bogues — the shortest player ever to play in the NBA — who Sophie developed a friendship with thanks to a connection through her dad.
“I always tell her I apologize,” Zirkin says. “I am five-foot-five so we did not give her great genes for basketball. But she’s really made up for it with work ethic.”
Zirkin reflects on his daughter’s progress in the sport and all of the effort she puts into it.
“She’s quick and fast and super strong, and her work ethic is unbelievable,” he says. “She’s forgone other things that are fun and she has sacrificed, and that’s a challenge for any teenager. But she has dedicated herself. When she doesn’t get something right, she gets out on the court for hours and hours and practices until she gets it right. She wants to get better.”
Anna Lippe is a freelance writer based in Washington, D.C.
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