Chicago sisters take an ‘Amazing’ odyssey

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

Want to root for the home team during the upcoming “Amazing Race?”

That would be Kisha and Jennifer Hoffman.

The sisters — both former standout athletes at Seton Academy in South Holland — were born in Chicago’s Roseland neighborhood. They spent their early years in Pullman before bouncing among several south suburbs, namely Riverdale and Dolton.

“We moved a lot when we were younger,” said Kisha Hoffman, 30, who now lives in the Bronx, N.Y. She and her younger sister come back to Chicago often because “all of our family’s there.”

All of that moving during childhood probably was good training for their whirlwind globetrotting adventures on “The Amazing Race.” The Hoffmans are among 11 teams in the show’s upcoming 18th season, titled “Unfinished Business,” where prior contestants get a shot at redemption — and $1 million.

During the 14th season, Kisha and Jen missed a spot in the final three by mere minutes after taking a bathroom break in China.

“We went back to our normal lives, not thinking they’d ask us to do it again,” said Jen, 26, whose normal life means coaching volleyball at her alma mater, the University of Louisville in Kentucky.

Kisha, who also graduated from University of Louisville after spending her first two years at Western Illinois University in Macomb, coaches middle school girls in basketball. She’s studying for a graduate degree in social work.

Neither of the sisters hesitated to put their lives on hold late last year, hop on a plane and race again.

This time, the 6-foot-2-inch siblings were more prepared — at least when it came to luggage.

“We didn’t actually have backpacks the first time,” Jen said with an embarrassed laugh. “We fixed that.”

Having done the race once, you would think the second time around would be easier.

And you’d be wrong.

“Definitely not easier,” Kisha said. “Everyone’s done it before and they’re all more prepared.”

Viewers of Season 14 know the one area where Kisha and Jen needed to be better prepared: the pool. Jen’s paralyzing fear of the water and inability to swim almost kept them from completing a leg of the race.

As soon as they got the call to come back, they signed up for swim lessons. Even so, swimming remains one sport these Division I scholarship athletes haven’t mastered.

“I wouldn’t say I’m a good swimmer,” Jen said, adding that she’s just skilled enough to “not die in the water.”

Tune in to see if the sisters sink or swim at 7 p.m. Sunday on CBS.