November 19, 2009: Someone You Should Know

Sarah Hoffman ’13 with kids at the Huruma orphanage in Kenya.

Photo courtesy of Sarah Hoffman ’13

Sarah Hoffman
Spreading love and hope through soccer gear for impoverished Kenyans

It is not a stretch to say that Sarah Hoffman ’13 eats, lives, and breathes soccer. And rightfully so—she has been playing this fast-paced game since she was four years old. A regional all-star soccer pick in high school, Sarah is a member of the Ohio Wesleyan University Women’s Soccer team.

Hoffman grew up in Fargo, North Dakota, but later moved to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Before coming to Ohio Wesleyan this year, she traveled to Africa for a service project that was inspired through her love of soccer.

Each senior at her high school was required to do a senior project. Hoffman decided to collect soccer equipment, and then travel to Kenya to distribute it to orphanages.

“Soccer is my life,” Hoffman says. “It’s something that has brought me so much, and I can’t take it for granted. I felt like I should use it to bring happiness and hope to people in Africa.”

Hoffman went to Kenya for three weeks and spent her time in both rural and urban slums/orphanages to work in clinics and distribute new soccer balls and equipment. One of the places she went to was the “Mathare slum” in Nairobi, one of the poorest areas in the country. While in Kenya, she also went on a safari and to Mombasa, which is on the ocean.

Playing soccer with a Massai tribe.

Photo courtesy of Sarah Hoffman ’13

“Everywhere we went I found people to play soccer with. I was able to experience that (soccer) is truly the world’s game.”

Hoffman says she chose Africa because her aunt is a doctor who has done a lot of work there.

“I’ve always wanted to travel to Africa with her,” Hoffman says. “Now that I’ve been, I would love to go back.”

Hoffman would also like to travel to England, the site of her all-time favorite soccer team, Chelsea Football Club. It’s no surprise that if she could eat lunch with any figure from history, she would choose this soccer team. They are also in her favorite movie, The Football Factory.

“I’m completely obsessed,” she jokes.

When Hoffman isn’t on the field, she enjoys running, water skiing, wake boarding, and playing tennis. “Basically I like any outdoor activity,” she says. “I just like to be outside.” Over the summer she also coaches at soccer camps.

Now that her soccer season has ended, she says she hopes to get involved with Amnesty International, of which she was president in her high school.

No matter where Hoffman’s life takes her, she says she wants to incorporate soccer in whatever she does.

“I would love to play professional soccer and go abroad, but even if that doesn’t happen, I want to stay involved with soccer somehow—maybe as a coach.”

A little bit extra:

• If you could have any super power, what would it be? – Lightning speed—I would be unstoppable on the field!
• What music are you listening to these days? – Everything, but I really like hip-hop, reggae, techno, and rap. Some of my favorite artists are Bob Marley, Daft Punk, and Ben Harper.
• Do you have a television show that you watch religiously? – All the soccer games Saturday and Sunday mornings.
• If you could live in any country other than the United States, where would you life? – England, because of the soccer culture there.

– Emily Hastings ’10