When Coach Karen Hoppa was 8 years old, her mom signed her up to play soccer in her hometown of Naperville, Ill.
"I didn't even know what soccer was at the time," Hoppa said. "I thought it was a dumb sport because you couldn't use your hands."
The thought of soccer being "dumb" didn't stick with Hoppa for long; she continued playing soccer and quickly grew to love it.
In high school, Hoppa was a stand-out athlete at Naperville Central. She received All-American soccer honors while competing in high school. Along with soccer, she also played basketball and softball while growing up.
Hoppa ventured south for college to play soccer at the University of Central Florida.
She received numerous awards during her college career, including All-American goalkeeper and an academic All-America.
After college, Hoppa spent the first six seasons of her 16-year coaching career at her alma mater, UCF. While at UCF, she was named Trans-America Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 1998. She coached the team to five TAAC, now called the Atlantic Sun Conference, titles from 1993-1998. In 2000, Hoppa was inducted into the University of Central Florida Athletic Hall of Fame for her accomplishments as a player and coach.
After a successful six-season span with the Golden Knights and a record of 64-44-9, Hoppa moved on to coach at Auburn University. She has spent the past 10 years coaching the Tiger women's soccer team.
In 10 seasons, Hoppa has led Auburn to a record of 115-76-16.
Since arriving at Auburn, Hoppa has led the Tigers to eight NCAA tournament appearances (1998, 2001-04, 2006-08), six SEC West titles (2001-04, 2006, 2008) and one SEC Championship in 2002.
Hoppa was named the Southeastern Conference's Coach of the Year in 2002.
Coach Hoppa is looking forward to coaching her 11th season with the Tigers.
"We are excited for the upcoming season," Hoppa said. "We have six terrific seniors that are focused on leading Auburn soccer to new heights."
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