We are extremely proud to feature some of coach Hoffman’s wisdom. He is among the top 20 active collegiate coaches in winning percentage; and has coached both at the collegiate as well as the professional level. We caught up with coach Hoffman while he and his team were traveling on their team bus.

HSI - What advice would you give homeschoolers who have a dream of playing sports at the college level?
“Well, I think it is important to go to as many camps or other opportunities outside the regular season to get exposed to different levels of competition whether it be AAU or a national affiliation that give you a chance to play in other venues. But I think camps are a great way, when you are young, to get extra teaching of fundamentals and get exposed to college and high school coaches that will help your game.”

HSI - What opportunities are at the college level for someone who has not been heavily recruited or who has not received a scholarship after high school?
“I think sometimes it’s a misnomar that the only kids that get scholarships are the one’s that can play. Becuase a lot of times, over the years I have had kids that walked on and ended up being on scholarship before they were done. I think it’s trying to find a fit for you and your family about what is the right kind of institution that you want to get a degree and further your college experience. Just because you may not get a scholarship doesn’t mean you may not be good enough to help a team. Whether it be a junior college setting or even a non-scholarship Division III program where the academics are usually really good or maybe an NAIA school at Division I or II that have partial scholarships. I think any of those settings, if you really want to play, and you have a decent level of ability and you continue to work on your game there is going to be opportunities for you.”

HSI - What mindset or attitude do you think you need as a collegiate athlete?
I think the most important thing for a
player who is in college is to continue to work on their game and take all the teaching and to understand that you have an opportunity; these days will be gone quickly, so you are only guaranteed the day you are in and you need to get everything you possibly can out of that day. I think if you approach it that way then everyday becomes a great opportunity for you to accomplish something. It is significant that you need to continue to get better and I think a lot of times college players think ‘oh I already know all these things, or I already know all these fundamentals’ but fundamentals don’t change, the way you perform the fundamentals do change by your quickness and your strength and trying to work on them daily and you get better at them even though there the same fundamental as you grow and get stronger in your college years you can really improve by leaps and bounds over the people that don’t work on their game.

HSI - What do you look for while you are out recruiting?
I really want to find someone who is engaged in the game whether it is encouraging their teammates and giving life to their team and not taking away from their team. Nomatter how good of a player they are, they don’t see themselves as the end all but they are part of the answer of the whole squad that is getting things accomplished. Obviously you have to have some athletic ability but I’m also looking at if they really want to learn the game and who are encouraging and being enthusiastic about the game. HSI