From Foreheads to Shoes, Hofschild Signs to the End
Guard goes out of her way to meet every autograph request
Mike Brohard
If somebody wanted an autograph, McKenna Hofschild was going to accommodate them.
Colorado State’s All-American point guard knew the drill for Education Day, a contest where Moby Arena is filled with thousands of elementary school students from the Poudre and Thompson school districts. They spent the entirety of Wednesday’s 54-51 win over Nevada filling Moby Arena with constant noise.
It is very much sensory overload for some in attendance, but Colorado State’s women’s basketball team loves the game. The energy is amazing, and the players smile seeing the excitement on the youngster’s faces in the crowd. During pregame warmup, the Rams on the floor spend as much time taking it all in as they do practicing layups.
Once Hofschild put in 33 minutes on the floor, she started with a section closest to the end of the bench. It was there Omar Gallegos came down the steps, handed her a shoe and informed Hofschild she was his idol.
See, they share something in common. The 10-year old Gallegos from Eyestone Elementary in Wellington is the shortest person on his team. In Hofschild, he sees himself, watches her do amazing things and then he sees what is possible instead of perceived limitations.
“I’ve been inspired by her because whenever I join a basketball team, I’m the shortest one,” he said. “I’m inspired by McKenna because she’s the shortest on the team. I’ve seen her on YouTube, but this is the first time I’ve been to a game. I was really excited to watch her.”
This is why Hofschild will stay until the arena is empty. She works her way up the stands and is surrounded. Some of them want hugs, maybe a high-five or a fist bump. Some of them are taller than her, but they all look up to the player.
For good reason. She is 5-foot-2 and doesn’t care on the floor. It’s the only part of her which doesn’t measure up in the cookie-cutter mentality of the sport. Her numbers speak volumes. She’s fifth in the nation in scoring at 23.3 points per contest, third in the country in assists, averaging 7.4 per outing.
In a physical game, her legs were naturally tired. Then she basically did an unassigned stadium-steps workout in the stands. She wasn’t sure between her legs or her signing hand which was more worn out.
Colorado State coach Ryun Williams has watched it happen the past two Education games, and neither time was he surprised. Amazed by her energy after 30 minutes of playing time in the 27th game of the season, but all it told him was what he already knew.
I signed a lot of foreheads today. Hopefully, parents don’t get upset with me.McKenna Hofschild
She gets the bigger picture of who she really is as a Ram.
“She has a great heart,” Williams said. “They understood they were a big part of the school day. That’s how they could impact it even further. It’s not 30 or 50 autographs, they stayed and signed as much as they possibly could. Those kids will remember that forever.”
She wasn’t about to let them down. She did it the season before. She was there long after most of her team had left the arena. This year, many of them came out and signed alongside her. Some left the floor for a spell, but Sanna Strom, Hannah Ronsiek and Cailyn Crocker came back out, looked for the crowd around Hofschild and started matching her signature for signature.
And when she was done with one side of the stands, she worked her way over to the other, climbed the stairs to the second level and was once again surrounded. Her mom and dad, Annette and Chris, watched from the floor with pride as their daughter made many a youngster’s day.
“I put myself in their shoes. If I had the chance to do something like this, it would be the highlight of my year,” the Minnesota native said. “I’m just trying to give them a memorable day and a fun experience. Just knowing if I were in their shoes, I’d hope a player or two would stay and try and sign as many as possible.
“I was them. I remember going to Lynx games, Gophers game, the Timberwolves, and I was the little one trying to reach my hand out. Sometimes I got an autograph, sometimes I didn’t, and that’s part of it. I’m just trying to reach as many kids as I can because it can be pretty impactful when I do.”
As everyone knows, kids can say the darndest things. It makes her laugh when she signs a hand and they go back to their friends and say, ‘I’m never washing my hand.’ And some of what she signed seemed a bit off, but, hey, why not.
“I signed a lot of foreheads today,” she said. “Hopefully, parents don’t get upset with me. Foreheads were top of the list. The most I signed was shoes. Nothing else to crazy, just basic stuff.”
Colorado State set up an orderly entrance and exit to the arena, buses scheduled to arrive and leave at certain times. Some of them were held up while classes from the school were still getting items signed. Nobody felt rushed, but there was a timeline to return to class.
The year before, she walked up into the stands and a line formed which would intimidate most. Not her. When she finds herself in the middle of a mob, she just looks for the next item, smiles at each request and moves to the next. Eventually, the students had to leave and go back to school, which is good for Hofschild. If not, she may still be autographing foreheads with a Sharpie.
“No problem at all. This is what it’s all about,” she said. “These are the days where I’m personally grateful to be in the position where I am and have the platform I do, to reach out and inspire young kids. I’ll stay and do this for four more hours if I have to.”
More than an hour after the game, Moby had finally cleared. Hofschild hugged her parents, told her she loved them and finally headed for the locker room. She needed to shower. It was a rough game.
She also had a bunch of Sharpie marks on her hands and arms. A bit of extra soap is a small price to pay when the return on investment is a happy kid.