Roosevelt's Director of Hockey Billy Karr enters his sixth season as the head coach of the Lakers' ACHA Division 1 team after joining the department after nine years with Robert Morris University Illinois.Â
He served his final two seasons with the Eagles at the helm of the ACHA Division 1 team and the previous seven with RMU’s Division 2 (2015-2018) and Division 3 (2011-2015) squads. Karr led the Eagles to the second round of the ACHA Division 1 National Championships in 2019 and his team was ranked 22nd in the ACHA final rankings in 2020.
Karr joined the RMU program as the head coach of the RMU Men's Division 3 team in 2011 and took the them to the ACHA Division 3 National Tournament in the 2012-13 season, advancing to the semi-finals and finishing third in the country with a 35-6 record. Following three seasons at the helm, he was named Head Coach of the RMU Division 2 Hockey team for the 2015-16 campaign. He would lead that quad for three more seasons before assuming the role as Head Coach of the Division 1 club in 2018.
Prior to his arrival at Robert Morris University, Karr served as Head Coach for the Northwest Chargers Midget Minor Central States U16 Team and led his program to a 39-10-5 record and the USA Hockey Tier II AA Travel Youth Ice Hockey State Championship in 2011. Following the state title, Karr's Chargers took third in the 2011 USAH National Tournament. Karr began his coaching career with the boy's program at Glenbard South High School in Glen Ellyn, Ill., guiding his alma mater to an Illinois West Conference Championship in his second season behind the bench of the Glenbard-area combined program.
Karr's coaching resume also includes five seasons with Upper Midwest High School Elite League Hockey, for which the Northern Illinois University graduate served as an instructor during the early stages of his career. As a youth, Karr played hockey at Glenbard South High School, as well as for USAH Tier I AAA Team Illinois and the Chicago Young Americans, before attending NCAA Division III St. Norbert College and competing for the Green Knights program during his freshman year. Karr would later leave St. Norbert for Northern Illinois, where the standout skater would captain the Huskies during his senior season.
Karr is a current resident of Glen Ellyn, Ill., where he resides with his wife Kim, and has three children, Elena, Catherine, and Chris.
