Winding journey, golden touch
Chandler Hoffman’s golden touch has him in contention for a golden boot.
Hoffman, an Oak Mountain High School alumnus, scored 14 goals through the first 27 games of the 2017 season for Real Monarchs SLC in the United Soccer League. The Real Monarchs are operated by the Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake, and Hoffman, a forward, is the team’s leading offensive producer.
His goal tally ranks among the top five in the USL. If he can sustain the pace, he’ll be in the mix to win the league’s Golden Boot, which is awarded annually to the top scorer.
“The thing that’s been a staple of mine has been being able to finish off opportunities, so whenever I’ve been in the box, most of the time I find the back of the net,” said Hoffman, talking over the phone before a mid-August game in Kansas City. “It’s just keeping that confidence and sharpness because as a striker, when you’re scoring goals, you believe every game you play you’re going to score.”
Hoffman’s nose for the net has made a significant impact for the Monarchs, who sat atop the league’s Western Conference standings with a 17-5-5 record as of Sept. 22. In July, he was voted the USL’s midseason MVP by fans.
Hoffman signed with the Salt Lake City-based Monarchs last November after spending the 2016 season with USL club Louisville City FC. His move to Utah marked his fifth club change in six years since being selected in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft. The Philadelphia Union picked Hoffman 13th overall out of UCLA, where he attended following his 2009 graduation from Oak Mountain.
“As a kid, I always had big goals and dreams, and a lot of people thought it was unrealistic that I wanted to play for UCLA because at the time no kid from Alabama had played soccer at UCLA,” Hoffman said. “But I’ve always kind of had lofty goals and dreams. For me, playing professionally was always the end goal.”
Hoffman spent only one season in Philadelphia before being traded to the L.A. Galaxy in 2013. He played with the club for two seasons and was a member of its 2014 squad that won the MLS Cup. That championship roster included renowned stars like Irishman Robbie Keane and former U.S. poster boy Landon Donovan, with whom Hoffman trained and played.
“It was kind of one of those things where I was having to pinch myself every day to see how far I had come from just a kid growing up in Birmingham to playing on the big stage,” Hoffman said.
Hoffman played for the Houston Dynamo in 2015 before signing with Louisville for the 2016 season, during which he netted a then-career-high 14 goals. The total ranked fourth in the USL.
Given the nomadic lifestyle of American soccer players, there’s no telling where Hoffman may eventually end up. But returning home could be an option.
In July, the USL announced that a franchise will begin to play in Birmingham in 2019. Hoffman said he was ecstatic upon hearing the announcement.
“Obviously, that would be an incredible thing, being able to play where it all began for me,” Hoffman said. “Who knows what could happen, but that’s definitely something, when you have that thought, it would be a pretty cool opportunity and experience for both meand my family.”