Coaches

Kyle Beard

Coach Beard is in his second season as head coach of the OU women's lacrosse program.


The 2023 Braves finished with an overall record of 8-5 and placed second in the KCAC with a mark of 3-1. Beard coached seven All-KCAC performers with Mackenzie Simmons being named KCAC Offensive Player of the year. Off the field, Cecily Anderson was to the CSC All-District team and a CSC Academic All-American. Shannon Carroll, Felicia Dixon, and Anderson were named KCAC Scholar Athletes. Four individual game records, three team single game records and five team single game school records were broken.


In his first year as assistant coach, Beard helped lead the Ottawa men's lacrosse program to a KCAC Championship in 2019. In three years at Ottawa, Beard coached nine KCAC First-Team selections and three Second Team All-Americans. Beard had a 24-21 record as an assistant coach, with a 20-9 KCAC record.


Beard was a two-time Second Team All-KCAC selection as a defender for the Braves in 2015 and 2016. In his two-year playing career, Beard appeared in 26 games, snagging 55 ground balls and causing 30 turnovers. He spent the 2017 season as a student assistant for men's lacrosse, followed by two seasons as a graduate assistant.


The Ottawa University women's lacrosse program has a 52-35 (60%) record in their seven-year history, with a KCAC record of 32-13 (71%). The Braves have had three straight winning seasons, and five winning seasons in the last seven years. Ottawa has produced three KCAC Player of the Year awardees, as well as 16 All-Conference players. The Braves reached NAIA Nationals in 2017 and had a pair of Second Team All-Americans in Diana Moreno and Kiarah Thomas in 2018.


Beard graduated from Ottawa University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Arts in Sports Studies. He then completed a Master of Business Administration degree from Ottawa in 2020.