(Atlantic) Karen (Hoffmann) Oller a member of the first Atlantic High School Softball team in 1972 was inducted into the Atlantic High School Softball Hall of Fame on Friday night.
Even before the creation of the high school Trojan Softball team, Karen Hoffmann was well on her way to a successful softball career. She, and many others who would eventually make up those early high school teams, had been playing for the local town softball team under the direction of Coach Mel Allen.
Karen, who was a senior the first year the high school team was created, put together an impressive string of statistics that included, scoring 28 runs, stealing 16 bases, and compiling a top ten all-time Trojan Softball batting average of 480.
After high school, Karen attended Benedictine College in Atchison, KS. When the school added softball in Karen’s junior year, she joined the team and helped the Ravens win the Kansas State Softball Championship in the school’s first year of competition. While at Benedictine College,
Karen also participated in volleyball and basketball.
After college, softball continued to be a passion for Karen. She played for several teams in Hays, Kansas, and coached for the Hays Recreation Softball Program and later for the Harper Recreational Softball Program.
Upon graduation, Karen received the Outstanding Physical Education Major Award and then accepted an instructor position in Hays, Kansas where she also coached the high school basketball, volleyball, and track teams. She coached numerous state track and field qualifiers and lead the volleyball team to three consecutive second place finishes in the Kansas sub-state tournament in ’76,’77 and’78.
In 1984 Karen moved to Harper, KS where she taught PE, health, and science while continuing her coaching career at the junior high and freshmen levels. Karen was named 2004 Unified School District 361 Teacher of the Year and in 2005 was a nominee for the Kansas State Teacher of the Year.
After 31 years of teaching and coaching, Karen retired in 2011.
