42 | DECEMBER 17 • 2020 

S

eger Hoff’s promising 
soccer career came to an 
untimely end, but not his 
love for the sport or the Berkley 
High School boys soccer team.
Hoff suffered a torn ACL in 
each knee during a six-month 
stretch while playing for club 
soccer teams before his junior 
year at Berkley and needed sur-
gery twice.
He could have felt sorry for 
himself, but the outgoing teen 
took another path and it led him 
to the fulfillment of a dream.
Hoff became the Berkley boys 
soccer team’s No. 1 fan, and he 
was the team manager, de facto 
goalie coach, pre-game hype 
man and social media guru this 
fall during his senior season.
The 18-year-old Huntington 
Woods resident, named for 
Detroit-born legend Bob Seger, 
also was a mentor for the young-
er players on the Berkley roster.
“Everyone on the team 
respected Seger,
” said Berkley 
coach Steve Wloszek. “Every 
coach will tell you he wishes he 
had more guys like Seger on his 
team.
”
Even though his soccer play-
ing days were over, Hoff played 
for Berkley on Senior Night.
He played about 15 minutes 
in each half in the Bears’ 4-0 

win over Dearborn Heights 
Crestwood on Oct. 8 at Hurley 
Field.
It was the first and only time 
Hoff played for the Berkley var-
sity boys soccer team. He was 
on the junior varsity team as a 
freshman and sophomore.
Hoff wore a brace on his right 
knee, which has still not fully 
recovered from surgery, when he 
played on Senior Night.
It was Wloszek’s idea to have 
Hoff play once he got the OK 
from his parents, doctor and the 
Berkley athletic coordinator.
“I’m so happy that Seger 
stayed engaged with our pro-
gram and created memories 
with his friends that he’ll have 
forever,
” Wloszek said.
The feeling was mutual.
“I told the guys before the 
Senior Night game that it was an 
honor to play one final time with 
my brothers,
” Hoff said. “They’ll 
be in my heart always and for-
ever. They mean the world to 
me. I hadn’t played soccer in two 
years, but I went all out.
”
Hoff was in Berkley’s starting 
lineup vs. Crestwood. He kissed 
the Bear paw in the middle of 
Hurley Field before the game.
“I also did the pre-game ritual 
I’ve done since I was about 10 
years old,
” Hoff said. “I rub my 

hands on the goal posts and 
kiss them. For my team’s goal 
posts, I pray that no balls will 
pass through them. I pray for 
invincibility. For the other posts, 
I pray for many goals and many 
mistakes.
”
Hoff was a defender before he 
suffered his knee injuries, but 
Wloszek played him at striker 
against Crestwood to give him a 
chance to score. He almost did.
“I was hanging out in the pen-
alty box on a corner kick and the 
ball came to me,
” he said. “I took 
a whack at it and it was going 
into the corner of the net before 
a defender got his toe on it. The 
keeper wasn’t going to get it.
”
Wloszek said he needed 
someone to work with the team’s 
four goalies and he thought Hoff 
was the perfect person for the 
job, so he asked him to take on 
the role.
“Seger went on YouTube to 
learn about teaching goalie skills, 
and he did a great job with our 
goalies,
” Wloszek said. “He knew 
what he was doing.
”
Ryan Serwa, one of the Bears’ 
goalies, was an honorable men-
tion All-State selection during 
a season in which Berkley (11-
4-4, 2-2-3 OAA Red) made its 
furthest advancement ever in the 
state tournament.

The Bears lost 3-1 in the 
Division 1 quarterfinals to even-
tual state champion Novi Detroit 
Catholic Central, which went 
undefeated (13-0-3) this fall.
Hoff’s love for soccer helped 
him in his coaching role.
“I’m obsessed with soccer,
” he 
said. “I understand the tactics, 
and I feel I can communicate 
them.
”
Hoff plans to do more com-
municating when he heads out 
into the world after college. 
He wants to be a lawyer, and 
perhaps a congressman or U.S. 
senator someday.
He wants to be team manag-
er for the men’s soccer team at 
whatever college he attends.
“I know soccer, and I’m 
enthusiastic about it,
” he said. “I 
know I can get that job.
”
When high school sports 
resume, Hoff hopes to compete 
with the Berkley boys swimming 
and diving team this winter.
Hoff is president of the Kishon 
AZA chapter and became a bar 
mitzvah at Temple Emanu-El in 
Oak Park.
His parents are Michael Hoff 
and Theresa Tarrant. His broth-
er Elliott Hoff played on the 
Berkley JV boys soccer team this 
fall. 

Berkley team manager 
plays for the Bears on 
Senior Night.

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Berkley team manager 

From the 
Soccer Field to 
the Sidelines 
and Back Again

STEVE WLOSZEK

Seger Hoff (10) and his Berkley 

boys soccer teammates gather 

for a Senior Night photo.

SPORTS

