Kathleen Flores (February 7, 1955 – October 21, 2021) was an American

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who was the head coach of the U.S. women's national team until January 2011 and the head coach of the Brown women's rugby team. Past coaching tenures include Bay Area Touring Side (BATS) Rugby Club, the SF FOG men and the Berkeley All Blues. She played rugby from 1978 to 1998 for Florida State University, the Berkeley All Blues Women's Rugby Club and U.S. women's national team. She started coaching for the Berkeley All Blues 1998 and had been head coach and administrator for the U.S. women's national team since 2003. She began coaching the women's rugby team at Brown University in the fall of 2013, following the retirement of Kerri Heffernan. During her time in Rhode Island, she also coached the Providence Women’s Rugby team. She was able to bring them to several division 2 championships.

Early life and education

Kathleen Theresa Flores was born to Joseph and Catherine Flores on February 7, 1955 in

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. She attended Monmouth Regional High School in New Jersey, where she played field hockey, basketball and ran track. She attended East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania and won the javelin throw event at the Eastern Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women in 1976 and 1977. She also played guard on the varsity basketball team. Flores graduated with her degree in physical education in 1977. In 1997, Flores was inducted into the ESU

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for her athletic excellence during her undergraduate years. In 1978, Flores began a master's program in

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Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

Rugby career

Club level playing

While attending Florida State University, Flores was drawn to the women's rugby team based on her past experience as a basketball and track athlete. She played at number eight and scrum-half for the Seminoles and won five Division 1 national titles while there. Because there was no distinction between the college/club level for women's rugby at the time, FSU competed as a club team, and Flores served as the team's captain and a player/coach up into the early 1990s. In 1994, Flores moved to the

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with Jen Crawford, her National Team teammate and partner at the time, where she started playing and coaching for the Berkeley All Blues.

National level playing

Beginning in 1985, Flores toured throughout

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and

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as a captain of the first unofficial U.S. national team, known as WIVERN (Women's International Vagabonds, Emissaries, and Rugby Nomads). The U.S. Women's National Team made its first official international appearance playing

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in 1987, with Flores at number eight and captain; the Eagles defeated Canada by 22-3, one try scored by Flores. In 1991, Flores played number eight on the Women's National Team competing in the first

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in Wales. The team compiled a 7-1 record and went on to win the championship again England's national team. Flores played as a hooker and flanker in the second Rugby World Cup in 1994.

Coaching

In 1998, Flores officially retired from playing rugby, and continued as the Berkeley All Blues head coach. She also coached the Pacific Coast Grizzlies, a regional all-star team, from 1995 to 2002. From 1999 to 2003, she coached the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

women's rugby team, bringing them to their first Sweet 16 appearance in 2001. In 2000, Flores was appointed as the Development Officer for the Women's National Team, and from 2002 to 2010, she served as the head coach. As the first woman and woman of color to coach a national team, she led them to fifth place finishes in the 2006 and 2010 Rugby World Cup. In 2007, she retired as head coach of the All Blues to focus on the national team, but returned briefly for the 2011 season. The All Blues won a total of eleven national championship titles with Flores as a player and coach. In 2009, she coached the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...

women's rugby team. From 2011 to 2013, Flores coached the San Francisco Fog, a gay men's rugby team. Flores played a key role in the 2009 founding of the Women's Premier League (WPL), a high-level rugby league in the United States. In 2013, Flores began coaching the

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

women's rugby team through its infancy as a

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team in 2014. She was awarded the Female Coach of the Year Award by

USA Rugby USA Rugby (formally the United States of America Rugby Football Union, Ltd.) is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. Its role is to achieve and maintain “high levels of quality in all aspects of rugby ...

after her first varsity season with the team, when they had a 9-1 overall record.

Death

Flores identified as a lesbian. Flores died from colon cancer on October 21, 2021, at the age of 66 in Providence.

Legacy

Flores was inducted into the

World Rugby Hall of Fame The World Rugby Hall of Fame (formerly the IRB Hall of Fame) recognises special achievement and contribution to the sport of rugby union. The World Rugby Hall of Fame covers players, coaches, administrators, match officials, institutions and othe ...

in a special ceremony during the

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semi-finals at

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on 5 November 2022. She had previously been inducted into the U.S. Rugby Hall of Fame as an individual in 2016, and as a member of the 1991 World Cup Team in 2017. In 2022, two awards were established by the U.S. Women's Rugby Foundation and the Women's Premier League: the Kathy Flores Lifetime Achievement Award and the Kathy Flores Heart of the WPL Award.

Honors and awards

* 2001: Coach of the Year,

Women's Sports Foundation The Women's Sports Foundation (WSF) is a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit charity focused on female involvement in sports. Founded in 1974 by tennis player Billie Jean King and initially supported by Olympic athletes Donna de Varona and Suzy Chaffee ...

* 2003: Personality of the Year Award,

International Rugby Board World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competit ...

* 2006: Pioneer of the Women's Game, Rugby Football Union * She was an honorable mention for the list of the ten greatest North American rugby players. * 2014: Female Coach of the Year,

* 2016: U.S. Rugby Hall of Fame inductee * 2016: Woman of Achievement,

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...

Rhode Island * 2017: U.S. Rugby Hall of Fame inductees: 1991 USA Eagles Women's World Cup squad member

References

External links

USA Rugby Official Site

Women's Eagles Unofficial Site

Florida State University Women's Rugby

Berkeley All Blues

Cal Women's college rugby team
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flores, Kathy 1955 births 2021 deaths East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania alumni Florida State University alumni United States women's international rugby union players Monmouth Regional High School alumni Sportspeople from Monmouth County, New Jersey American female rugby union players 20th-century American sportswomen Rugby union players from New Jersey World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees Female rugby union coaches Deaths from colorectal cancer American sportspeople of Filipino descent Sportspeople from Philadelphia American lesbian sportswomen Brown University staff American LGBTQ rugby union players United States national rugby union team coaches