Le personalità del bridge

John Homer Shoop nacque il 16 novembre del 1912 a Nord Webster nel nord dell'Indiana e fu un banchiere, un filantropo ed un forte giocatore di bridge e di tennis.

Iniziò a lavorare in banca quando aveva 12 anni e mise insieme una considerevole fortuna fin quando nel 1946 non fu in gradi di comparare la sua prima banca che, per sua volontà, divenne anche Museo dello Sport.

Homer investì una montagna di dollari per trovare e coltivare giovani che fossero promesse negli sport che amava.

Senior Player negli anni 1989 e 1990, cercò senza successo di donare un trofeo alla ACBL in suo ricordo.

Vinse diversi titoli e tornei nazionali di bridge e in gioventù fu un internazionale di tennis che scese anche nell'arena di Wimbledon e che oggi viene ricordato nella Hall of Fame di tale sport.

Homer Shoop (1912-1991) of North Webster IN played tennis at Wimbledon, bridge in Biarritz and gave thousands of dollars to fund youth scholarships in the sports he loved.

Shoop began his banking career at the age of 12 and by age 20 was running his hometown bank in Lawrence MI. In his late twenties he parlayed real estate, stock and railroad investments into a sizeable fortune.

At age 32, he retired to play tennis, but missed banking. He bought his first bank in 1946. This was the headquarters for the International Palace of Sports and the Sports Museum, which he founded.

For almost two decades, the International Palace of Sports designated a $1000 King/Queen of Bridge scholarship in the name of an ACBL member who was a graduating high school senior. Shoop was Senior Player of the Year in 1989 and 1990.

His intentions were to donate a trophy for this honor, but ACBL’s restrictions on new trophies did not allow that to happen.

In addition to his bridge accomplishments, Shoop held various national and international tennis titles. In 1989 he was elected into the Dade County International Players Tennis Center Hall of Fame.