Kara Reber

Florida Southern Director of Athletics Pete Meyer announced Kara Reber as the first ever head coach for the Moccasins’ women’s lacrosse program that began competition in 2012.

Coach Reber led the Moccasins to an outstanding inaugural season in 2012, finishing with a 12-4 overall record including an 11-6 victory over #10 Mercyhurst in the team’s second game ever. It was the first win against a ranked opponent for the Mocs. The season was also highlighted with a 6-0 record to start the season. Reber was named the 2012 Independent Coach of the Year while eight of her players from the inaugural team were awarded post season honors; ranging from All-Independent Freshman Team to All-IWLCA South Region Second Team. As a team the Moccasins were also awarded as an IWLCA All-Academic Squad. Besides their play on the field and their studies in the classroom, Coach Reber and her team were also committed to performing community service deeds around the Central Florida Area. For the efforts Coach Reber’s team was honored for their philanthropic endeavors during the 2011-12 year receiving the IWLCA Division II Team Community Awareness Award. The Moccasins spent time helping out the community by raising money, building homes and spreading the game of lacrosse to the surrounding area.

Reber comes to Florida Southern from St. Mary’s College in Maryland, an NCAA Division III school, where she had been the women’s lacrosse coach from 2009-2010, compiling a 21-14 record.  In her first season at St. Mary’s, she coached the team to the semifinals of the Capital Athletic Conference Tournament.  Her team included one All-America selection, four all-region selections, five all-conference choices and the CAC player-of-the-year.  In her second season there the team again reached the CAC Tournament semifinals, had three all-region selections, six all-conference selections and the CAC Rookie-of-the-Year, produced two all-academic selections and a team all-academic award from IWLCA and earned a Division III Community Service Award for completing 11 community service projects.

Before she went to St. Mary’s, Reber was the women’s lacrosse coach for five seasons (2004-08) at Lycoming (Pa.) and produced a 47-34 record that included 14-win seasons in 2006 and 2007.  Inheriting a program that had just six players, she was named the Middle Atlantic Conference Coach-of-the Year in 2006 after her team improved from a 5-8 season in 2005 to a 14-4 campaign in 2006.  In her five seasons at Lycoming, she coached a two-time All-America selection, 10 all-region selections and 12 all-conference choices.  Her 2008 Lycoming squad won the Division III Community Service Award by raising over $6,000 for breast cancer research.

Reber currently has an 80-52 record overall in eight seasons as a head coach.

A native of Pittsford, N.Y., Reber began her coaching career at Newark High School in New York.  She also coached at Bishop Neumann High School in Williamsport, Pa., where she was the 2005 Mid-Penn Soccer Coach-of-the-Year.

She received her bachelor’s degree in sports management in 1999 from Bowling Green University in Ohio, where she played soccer and ice hockey.   In 2001 she earned a second bachelor’s degree in physical education from SUNY-Brockport.

Reber and her husband, Matthew, currently reside in Lakeland and have three daughters, Kylie, Kendall and Kenzie.