Karen Hoppa Named Assistant Head Coach For ODP Region III - AuburnTigers.com

Karen Hoppa Named Assistant Head Coach For ODP Region III Auburn head soccer coach has been heavily involved in ODP during her career

Karen Hoppa

Sept. 4, 2008

AUBURN, Ala. - Auburn head soccer coach Karen Hoppa has been named the new Assistant Head Coach for Region III of the Olympic Development Program. Auburn's head coach since 1999, she will assist Tracey Leone, who is the Head Region III ODP Coach.

"I am very honored to be named to this position. I have worked ODP all my life and at every level and I am very excited about the opportunity to work with Tracey Leone again and to help Region III grown," Hoppa said.

Hoppa, ,who has guided Auburn to a 169-113-23 mark since arriving on the Plains, was named the top assistant by Leone, whom she also coached with during the 2002 U19 World Cup. With ODP she will assist Leone in all facets of running the region with duties that include but are not limited to hiring and supervising staff, budget meetings, traveling with region teams domestically and internationally and directing region camp, among other things.

"When I was asked to think about taking the position (with Region III), the first person I thought of was Karen. She was a huge reason why I actually decided to do it because I knew she would be able to help me so much," Leone said.

In August of 2007 Hoppa took seven Alabama ODP players to Denmark to play in the Dana Cup in Hjorring with the Fortuna Club. She has been very active in ODP in the last several years, coaching the Alabama ODP team for the 1990 birth year and has had four players selected to the Regional Pool and two to the National Pool.

"We have worked together for quite some time with the U-19s and I have known Karen for a very long time; playing and coaching against and with her at every level. I have an incredible amount of respect for her as a coach and as a person," Leone said. "She has proven to be one of the best coaches out there and she is as good of a person to match that coaching level. She has such high character and integrity in everything that she does. Her knowledge of the game and ability to relate with and inspire players is some of the best I have ever seen."

The ODP consists of four regions and it is the goal of each region to select the top players in each age group, U14-U19, from the 12 states in the region to represent the region and then prepare those players for the national team level.