Carlee Hoffman
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Carlee Hoffman | |||||||||||||||
| Nationality | American | |||||||||||||||
| Born | July 10, 1986 | |||||||||||||||
| Residence | Cutlerville, Michigan USA | |||||||||||||||
| Website | Carlee Hoffman's Official blog site | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Wheelchair Basketball | |||||||||||||||
| Team | U.S. Paralympic Women's Wheelchair Basketball Team | |||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||
| Paralympic finals | Summer 2008 Paralympic Games, Beijing, China | |||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Carlee Hoffman (born July 10, 1986) is an American female wheelchair basketball player from Cutlerville, Michigan. She plays the power forward position and was a gold medalist for the United States in the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Carlee Hoffman was born on July 10, 1986 to parents Dave and June Hoffman. Carlee is the youngest of the three Hoffman children. Her older sister Bree is married and she and her husband Brian are responsible for Carlee’s favorite nephews: Zack and Jarrett. She also has an older brother, Reed, and is quick to point out how important the whole group is to her.
Hoffman says she has been a basketball fanatic for as long as she can remember. However, when she was three years old, her love for the game was tested when she was injured in a lawn mower accident, resulting in the loss of both of her legs bilateral below-knee amputee.
[edit] Education
While attending South Christian High School, Hoffman was introduced to wheelchair basketball and began playing for the Junior Pacers (Michigan). As Hoffman's basketball stills improved and her spring graduation just around the corner, she had two Universities fighting for her attention and offering full ride scholarships. Huffman ulimantly chose the University of Illinois over the University of Arizona because she wanted to sharpen her basketball skills under the tutelage of coach Michael Frogley.
[edit] Palestinian internship
Carlee walked with her classmates at U of I in May 2008, but she will not officially get her diploma until she completed an upcoming internship. Huffman spent several months on the West Bank in Gaza working with Mercy Corps, a non-profit group, and the Palestinian Paralympic Committee to develop a wheelchair basketball program there.
Hoffman majored in Recreation Sport and Tourism Management, so she was not going to Israel to make nice and shoot some hoops. The primary focus was to help the Palestinians develop a coaching program, and develop some fundraising options and help draft a strategic plan for the next five years for the programe. Hoffman credited coach Frogley with helping her land this fantastic opportunity. She spent a week with the Palestinians in early November 2008. She and Matt Buchie, an assistant coach at the U of I, put on a week long camp for adult players. Carlee related that many of the players didn’t even have the proper equipment. Wheelchairs designed for basketball and other sports typically have a fifth wheel located in the back to keep the chair from tipping over. Several of the Palestinian players had regular chairs with four wheels and found themselves on their backs during practice sessions. Carlee realizes that she will have her work cut out for her during her internship, but she was very excited about the possibility of turning it into a job.
[edit] Basketball career
She was selected as an alternate for the 2003 U.S. Paralympics Women's Wheelchair Basketball National Team before making the team the following year. In Athens, Hoffman won a gold medal with the team. Four years later, Hoffman helped Team USA to another gold medal, scoring 10 points in the final game against Germany.
Hoffman also successfully qualified for the 2004 U.S. Paralympic Women's Sitting Volleyball Team but declined the offer so she could play basketball.
[edit] Major achievements
- 2010: Gold medal – IWBF Gold Cup, Birmingham, England
- 2008: Gold medal, U.S. Paralympic Women's Wheelchair Basketball Team - Paralympic Games, Beijing, China
- 2008: First place - North American Cup, Birmingham, Alabama
- 2008: First place - Joseph F. Lyttle World Basketball Challenge, Warm Springs, Georgia
- 2008: NWBA Women's Division National Championship - University of Illinois
- 2007: Gold medal - Parapan American Games, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- 2007: National Championship, MVP - University of Illinois Wheelchair Basketball
- 2006: National Championship - University of Illinois Wheelchair Basketball
- 2006: Silver medal - IWBF Gold Cup (World Championships), Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- 2004: Gold medal - Paralympic Games, Athens, Greece
