The gym is empty and quiet, but there is one girl there. She might as well consider the gym her second home. She is there for hours on end working to get better. On one occasion she was in the gym for six hours the day before a tournament for a different sport.
Jaeli Hoffman has the relentless spirit every coach hopes for. She plays basketball and volleyball. She is hard working and tough but still has the biggest heart, and is ultimately someone many look up to.
“I’m very competitive and hardworking,” Hoffman said.
During basketball games her friends cheer from the student section, chanting her name at every basket. During volleyball games, there was more than one account that the crowd started cheering “she’s a freshman.”
Hoffman has played basketball since she was about three years old and has loved it ever since. She loves to camp, hunt, and spend time with family ad friends.
Almost every year her family goes to Hawai’i with family friends. This is when Hoffman makes some of her favorite memories.
She’s been posted on social media by multiple people throughout the year for her achievements: two time Newcomer of the Year, as well as scoring over 30 points in one game for basketball.
But behind all this glory, is the grit, sweat, blood, and tears. Years of being pushed to her very limits by tough coaches. Seasons of having to fight for her spot. Hours in the gym when no one else was there.
“Jaeli pushes everyone to do their best, she has brought out the competitiveness in me for sure,” Kapree Kiefer said.
Some people might use her height as a reason for her success or maybe even call it athletic luck, but the thing some people don’t know is, Hoffman has all the receipts to show the hard work and dedication she has put in, in order to get where she is today.
