Israel Lacrosse has tabbed Kara Mupo as head coach of its Women’s Sixes Team ahead of November’s 2026 European Sixes Lacrosse Championships (ESLC) in Spain.
From November 2-9, women’s national teams representing all corners of Europe will converge on Salou, Spain, to settle a continental championship, qualification for the 2027 World Lacrosse Sixes Championship, and begin the process of qualification for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Kara Mupo
Mupo brings tremendous outstanding experience to Israel’s quest for European glory and Olympic inclusion. The head women’s lacrosse coach at George Mason since 2020, Mupo boasts a loaded trophy cabinet from her playing days, including two NCAA national championships, a WPLL title, and numerous individual accolades. Prior to taking over at George Mason, she cut her teeth as an assistant coach at William & Mary, Stony Brook, Stanford, and Ohio State.
The Rocky Point, New York, native also played for the U.S. Women’s National Team in 2015 and 2016. That international experience, plus the rest, will inform how she approaches the event in Salou, Mupo said.
“Both my international and professional playing experiences will provide a fundamental understanding of the competition at hand,” she explained. “I plan to attack this coaching opportunity the same way I approach anything in my life: all in. The goals from the ILA have been made very clear, and my staff and I will do whatever it takes to achieve those goals.”
Olympic qualification is a priority for Israel Lacrosse, and Mupo gives the association an strong chance to cement its standing in LA in two years, ILA Executive Director Ian Kadish said.
“Kara has competed and achieved at the highest levels of the sport,” he said. “She brings a competitiveness and strategic vision that puts us in the best position possible to qualify for and medal at the Olympics.”
ILA Board Chairman Dan Kraft echoed Kadish’s confidence in Mupo to take Israel where it wants to be.
“Kara’s high-level experience as a player and coach stood out,” he explained. “But what ultimately mattered was her understanding of the Sixes format and what it takes to compete at the international level as we look toward LA2028.”
Mupo said that the ILA has been on her radar since she played for Team USA in 2015 and 2016, and her intrigue grew over the years as she increasingly coached Division I athletes who played for various ILA teams over the years. Now, she can add herself to the list of those who have represented the Blue-and-White.
“The sport of lacrosse has blessed me with so many amazing opportunities in my life thus far, so I continuously look to give back to the sport and the amazing women who play across the world,” Mupo said. “Additionally, this is an amazing way to further immerse myself in my family’s Jewish roots. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and challenge, and I am honored to accept it.”
Israel Women’s Sixes Coaching & Support Staff
Kara Mupo will be equipped with plenty of sideline support in Spain.
Mark Russell will serve as her offensive coordinator. An accomplished private trainer of some of the ACC and Big Ten’s best women’s lacrosse players, as well as members of Team USA, Russell joins the staff as a close confidant of Mupo from past experiences.
Current Florida assistant coach and former Israel Women’s National Team player Lindsay Epstein will handle defensive coordinator duties. The two-time All-Big Ten honoree as a player at Ohio State was set to wear the Blue-and-White at the 2024 Women’s European Lacrosse Championship, but she tore her ACL in training camp. Still, Epstein traveled with the team to Portugal and assumed an assistant coach role, proving her commitment to Israel Lacrosse and gaining valuable experience she will bring to Spain.
After co-leading the Israel Women’s National Team at this summer’s 2026 World Lacrosse Women’s Championship in Tokyo, Kate Goldstein will coach Mupo’s goalies three months later in Spain. Head coach of the bronze medal-winning team Israel sent to the Women’s European Sixes Qualifier in Vila Real de Santo Antonio, Portugal, in March 2025, the current Drexel assistant coach continues to assume greater responsibility within the ILA. Prior to joining Drexel, Goldstein was an assistant at Georgetown, Villanova, and Penn, and started three years between the sticks at McDaniel College.
Long-time ILA veteran Sophie Bass will be the team’s manager. The other co-head coach for the Israel Women’s National Team that will play in Japan in the summer, Bass has done it all at the ILA. In her nearly 10 years of involvement with Israel Lacrosse, Bass has coached, coordinated, chaperoned, and everything in between.
“She is the best person we have in our entire organization at operations and logistics,” Kadish said of the Widener University head women’s lacrosse coach. “Our Women’s Sixes Team is in excellent hands with Sophie.”
2026 European Sixes Lacrosse Championship Impact & Information
There are two qualifiers between now and LA 2028, and it all begins in Salou.
The results of the 2027 World Lacrosse Sixes Championship (WLSC) will directly determine which nations will compete in Los Angeles a year later, but qualification for it will rely on the results of the continental federation championships. To advance to the 2027 WLSC out of Europe, a team must place within the top five of the 2026 ESLC.
The 2026 ESLC will be played at Salou’s Mediterranean Sports Hub, located about 60 miles south along the Spanish coast from Barcelona. The complex is fit with grass and turf fields and a stadium and plays host to more than 40 tournaments per year across several sports.
Want to Play in the Olympics?
For the first time in over a century, that opportunity is there for the taking this November.
With its coaching staff determined, Israel Lacrosse is now ready to build its roster for the first step of Olympic qualifying. If competing on the biggest stage for the Blue-and-White is on your wish list, now is your chance to stake your claim.
“My staff and I are looking for trailblazers,” Mupo explained. “Women who want to represent the ILA with a world-class approach in all that we do. We will have to train, practice, and execute at the highest level possible. To do so, we must put together a roster of players who undoubtedly will commit to that process.”
To register your interest, complete this form to remain up to date on the process.