- Kathy Flores
Kathy Flores is a former
rugby union player from theUnited States and now is the current Head Coach of the U.S. Women's National Team. She has played rugby from 1978 to 1998 forFlorida 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 has been head coach and administrator for the U.S. Women's National team since 2003.Early years
Flores was born
February 7 ,1955 inPhiladelphia and callsTallahassee her hometown. She attendedMonmouth Regional High School in New Jersey, where she played field hockey, basketball and ran track.During her undergraduate years at East Stroudburg University Flores playedbasketball (guard) and was on the track team ( javelin). She earned a B.S. degree in physical education in 1977. In 1997 Flores was inducted into the ESUhall of fame for her athletic excellence during her undergraduate years. [http://www4.esu.edu/athletics/hall_fame/inductees_03.cfm]Discovering rugby
In 1978 Flores started a masters program in
exercise physiology atFlorida State University where she discovered the Seminoles, FSU's Women's rugby team. Drawing from her experience as abasketball andtrack athlete, Flores had the finesse and strength for rugby. Flores played atNumber Eight andscrum-half for the Seminoles and won a total of 4 National Championships. [http://www.erugbynews.com/article.php?sec=1772&a=1795]National level play
Flores toured throughout
England andFrance with the first unofficial U.S. national team in 1986, known as WIVERN [http://www.uswrf.org/History.aspx] . The U.S. Women's National Team made its first official international appearance at the Can-Am Rugby Tournament in 1987. With Flores capped at no. 8 and captain the U.S. defeatedCanada 22-3, for which Flores scored atry .In 1991 the USA Rugby sanctioned Women's National Team would compile a 7-1 record at the first
Women's Rugby World Cup championship with Flores on the pitch as a scrumhalf and No. 8. [http://www.womeneagles.com/firstCup.html] .Club level and coaching
Flores moved to the
San Francisco Bay Area in 1994 where she started playing for the [http://www.berkeleyallblues.com/ Berkeley All Blues] . In 1998 Flores officially retired from playing rugby, and began a career in coaching as the Berkeley All Blues head coach. In 2007 she retired as Head coach of the All Blues to focus on the national team. [http://www.erugbynews.com/article.php?sec=131&a=1581] The Berkeley All Blues won a total of 11 National Championship titles with Flores playing a key role, either as a player or coach. Flores also coached the [http://www.calwomensrugby.com Cal Women's college rugby team] from 1998 to 2004. [http://www.scrum.com/2444_19086.php]Regional and national level and coaching
Flores was the Pacific Coast Regional All-Star team Head Coach from 1995 to 2002. [http://www.scrum.com/2444_19086.php]
In late 2002, USA Rugby announced Kathy Flores as the new head coach of the Women's National Team. [http://web.usarugby.org/cgi-bin/viadesto/press/display.pl?releaseId=491] The following year she was honored with the IRB International Women's Personality of the Year Award. “Kathy was given the Women’s Personality of the Year Award for her contribution to the game first as a player and then in her capacity as an administrator,” said IRB Communications Director Chris Rea. [ [http://web.usarugby.org/cgi-bin/viadesto/press/display.pl?releaseId=658] in 2007 Flores accepted a two year extension of her contract as head coach. [http://rugby.viadesto.com/Information/DisplayFullStory.asp?NavPageID=59152&ItemID=224988]
Honors and awards
*2001 Flores was named [http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/cgi-bin/iowa/about/awards/results.html?record=16 Women's Sports Foundation's Coach of the Year] , [http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/cgi-bin/iowa/about/awards/results.html?record=1]
*2003 International Rugby Board awarded her the [http://www.irb.com/history/awards/pastwinners/index.html Personality of the Year Award] , [http://www.irb.com/history/awards/pastwinners/index.html]
*2004 International McLovin award
*Honored as a Pioneer of the Women's game in the
RFU "Women's Rugby - A Work in Progress" [http://www.rfu.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/RFUHome.Simple_Detail/storyID/13377/storytypeID/93/] , [http://www.scrum.com/2444_19086.php]External links
* [http://www.usarugby.org USA Rugby Official Site]
* [http://www.womeneagles.com Womens Eagles Un-Official Site]
* [http://www.fsuwomensrugby.com/ Florida State University Women's Rugby]
* [http://www.berkeleyallblues.com/ Berkeley All Blues] .
* [http://www.calwomensrugby.com Cal Women's college rugby team] .
* [http://www.rfu.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/RFUHome.Simple_Detail/storyID/13377/storytypeID/93/ Women's Rugby - A Work in Progress]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.