Distinguished Alumnus Profile - Jennifer Hoffman
October 07, 2009 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 7, 2009
Reality television has become more popular in recent years. Few people have the chance to appear on their favorite shows. However, for Jenn and Kisha Hoffman, they received a rare opportunity to appear on The Amazing Race in 2009.
Jenn Hoffman is a 2006 graduate of U of L and was an All-American volleyball player. But when coach Leonid Yelin recruited Hoffman to the Cardinals, he was recruiting a basketball player who had played some volleyball in high school.
Hoffman credits Yelin for teaching her the game and having the patience to coach her into the player that she became. "I did not know anything about volleyball," she said. "I was ready to learn from such a great coach. He molded me into an All-American that is for sure."
Hoffman holds single-game records for total blocks with 13 against Virginia in 2004 and is tied for block assists with 12 against Memphis in 2003.
She was asked to try out for The Amazing Race by one of the show's casting directors who was in town for the Kentucky Derby, she said.
The show was filmed in October and November of 2008 and began to air on CBS in February. Hoffman had to keep her presence on the show a secret so she told everyone she was trying out for a volleyball team in Sweden, she said. "Nobody knew until they saw the first episode and my phone blew up, and I had to turn it off," she said.
The Hoffmans traveled all around the world from Switzerland to Thailand. "I fell in love with Phuket, Thailand," she said. "The people, even though they live in poverty, they just seemed so happy. They deal with it, and make the best of it."
The sisters were able to spend more time together than in recent years because Jenn was in Louisville and Kisha had already graduated. "For the last part of the show we started to get a feel for each other, Jenn said. "I learned a lot more about my sister and her tolerance and how caring and loving and passionate she is. I would not have done [the show] with anyone else."
Before the show, Jenn had already spent some time abroad when she played volleyball professionally in Spain. The time abroad helped her prepare for her time as a coach, she said. "I learned a lot of patience, she said. "I was a hothead. I pick up people's personalities a lot quicker. It teaches you how to communicate with people."
Hoffman has used those communication skills as a coach at Manuel High School and at the club level. Then she was an assistant coach at Fordham for two months before returning to U of L as an assistant coach.
The two months at Fordham were a valuable learning experience, she said. "It allowed me a lot of leeway to run practices and look at how to set up schedules for teams," she said.
Hoffman was not sure that coaching was the best fit for her, she said. "It's not something that I automatically knew [I wanted to do]," she said "Once I got into it, and once I coached club around here and coached high school, I definitely knew it was something that I wanted to do."
Hoffman is happy to be back with the Cardinals, now in a different capacity. "Every athlete wants to impact the place that they came from," she said. That is why I am happy that they brought me back here to coach because I have some type of relationship with the program.
"It feels good, it feels like home."
