Cheerleader inks high-impact deal at UO

Chere Hoffman, left, longtime coach at Gold Star Gymnastics, and daughter Naomi, who signed a letter of intent to join the women's competitive stunt and gymnastics team at the University of Oregon.

Union High School senior Naomi Hoffman signs letter-of-intent papers Monday for the University of Oregon competitive team stunt and gymnastics women’s program, the first of its kind in the Pacific Northwest. (Howard Buck/The Columbian)

Naomi Hoffman, Union High School

Naomi Hoffman

It's a near-perfect match. Maybe even a "10."

Take a driven gymnast — raised by two coaches, learning her first moves at age 1 — who sparked the fledgling Union High cheerleading and gymnastics squads when the school opened two years ago.

Enter the University of Oregon, which has just launched a competitive team stunt and gymnastics women's program, first of its kind in the Pacific Northwest.

Add the Ducks' ambitious new coach, whose top-shelf Georgia program captured two National Cheerleading Association titles and who plans to make a similar splash in Eugene.

No wonder Naomi Hoffman was all smiles Monday after signing a letter of intent to join Oregon's new roster.

With green, gold and black balloons and a UO-themed cake for a backdrop, Hoffman, 18, inked paperwork for a partial athletic scholarship. Proud friends and coaches watched in the Union High commons.

"It's just like here," Hoffman, 18, said. "I think making a statement is the thing."

Said Tiffany Webb, Union cheerleading coach, "It's a huge deal for her. It's a huge deal for competitive cheerleading" that Oregon is committed to a high-impact program, she said.

Hoffman knows plenty about competition. Impacts, too.

She earned a ninth-place tie on the balance beam at this year's Class 3A state title meet. During a winning career nurtured by her mother, Chere, longtime coach at Gold Star Gymnastics in Orchards, she's earned all-league honors and collected most outstanding, inspirational and even scholastic individual awards.

Chere sat beaming at her daughter's side during Monday's signing.

But Naomi's real imprint was leading the competitive cheer squad at Union to success. That includes third-place honors in the recent Washington state 3A cheer championships and again in national competition in Anaheim, Calif., last month.

"I like competing. Not necessarily getting awards and medals, but just competing — trying to do my best," Hoffman said. "I just do it for fun, and to be with my friends."

At a compact 5-foot-3 and 130 pounds, she brings her strong gymnastics skills — the beam, floor exercise and vault her usual repertoire — to cheer team stunts.

"The crowd likes the flipping. You need to have those kind of aerial skills" to impress judges, Webb explained. "Her strength made her a great stunter."

That's what caught the eye of new Ducks coach Felecia Mulkey, quickly building a powerhouse unit of two dozen athletes. During Hoffman's recruiting visit, Oregon's commitment and her talents meshed enough to render moot earlier visits to large Texas schools, she said.

Mulkey's teams won two Division II titles at Kennesaw State University, near Atlanta, before moving up to Division I competition where they remain potent. Mulkey will bring a handful of Owls west with her, while signing up prospects from hotbeds such as California and Texas.

Her arrival brings legitimacy — other big schools including Baylor University and the University of Maryland have recently added teams, too — and should send ripples to young athletes across the region, said Webb.

Oregon's team will compete in McArthur Court, and then the Ducks' new basketball arena, never as second-fiddle to other sports.

Hoffman will begin workouts in Eugene in September, prior to the winter team season. She plans to major in athletic training, an interest piqued by her own impacts — not of the good variety.

There have been broken bones in her right foot, a third-degree ankle sprain, pulled back muscles, she explained. "I've had so many injuries. I don't like seeing people in pain, because I know how it feels," she said.

Howard Buck: 360-735-4515 or howard.buck@columbian.com.