2022 -- S 2018 | |
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LC003514 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2022 | |
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S E N A T E R E S O L U T I O N | |
EXPRESSING DEEPEST CONDOLENCES ON THE PASSING OF KATHLEEN "KATHY" | |
FLORES | |
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Introduced By: Senator Tiara T. Mack | |
Date Introduced: January 11, 2022 | |
Referred To: Recommended for Immediate Consideration | |
1 | WHEREAS, It is with immense sadness that this Senate has learned of the passing of |
2 | Kathy Flores, a trailblazing and legendary American rugby player and coach, a pioneer in the |
3 | sport of American women’s rugby, and a fierce advocate for women’s equality in rugby and all |
4 | sports; and |
5 | WHEREAS, Kathy Flores was born in Philadelphia, and called Tallahassee, Florida, her |
6 | hometown. She attended Monmouth Regional High School in New Jersey where she was a |
7 | standout athlete who excelled at field hockey, basketball and track & field. She also attended East |
8 | Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania (ESU) where she played basketball at the guard position, |
9 | threw the javelin for the track team, and earned a B.S. degree in physical education. In 1997, she |
10 | was inducted into the ESU Hall of Fame for her athletic excellence as an undergraduate student; |
11 | and |
12 | WHEREAS, While attending Florida State University to begin a Master’s program in |
13 | exercise physiology, Ms. Flores discovered and fell in love with the sport of rugby. Thanks to her |
14 | prior experience playing basketball and as a track athlete, Ms. Flores had the strength, speed and |
15 | coordination to excel at rugby. Ms. Flores proceeded to serve as the team captain and play at the |
16 | number eight and scrum-half positions for Florida State where she helped lead the Seminoles to |
17 | four national championships; and |
18 | WHEREAS, In 1985, Ms. Flores was a member of a grassroots organized, invitational |
19 | national team that was the first United States Women’s Rugby Team to play international |
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1 | matches. Shortly thereafter, she became a member of the first official USA Women’s Rugby |
2 | Team, a team she was part of until 1994; and |
3 | WHEREAS, In 1994, Ms. Flores began her legendary coaching career with the Berkeley |
4 | All Blues Rugby Team from the San Francisco Bay area. From 1994 to 2010, she compiled a |
5 | record of success rarely matched in the history of sports. Under her direction and guidance, the |
6 | All Blues would go on to win eleven national championships. During this period, she also |
7 | coached the USA Women’s Rugby Team, from 2003 to 2010, and was the coach of the 2006 and |
8 | 2010 United States Women’s World Cup Teams. She was the first woman to coach any rugby |
9 | national team and the first woman of color to coach a national team. Ms. Flores also played a key |
10 | role in the formation of the Women’s Premiere league in 2009; and |
11 | WHEREAS, In 2014, Ms. Flores became the Head Coach of the Brown University |
12 | Women’s Rugby Team, one of the first such Division I NCAA teams. Once again she excelled, |
13 | leading her 2014-2015 team to an undefeated season and the Ivy League Championship. In the |
14 | last two full seasons, Ms. Flores had led her squads to the National Intercollegiate Rugby |
15 | Association (NIRA) 15’s Championship Match in 2019, and the NIRA Quarterfinals in 2018. |
16 | She also coached the Providence Women’s Rugby team where for five consecutive years, it |
17 | placed in the national top 16 for its conference; and |
18 | WHEREAS, Kathy Flores received many awards and honors throughout her |
19 | distinguished career as both a rugby player and coach. She was inducted into the East |
20 | Stroudsburg University Hall of Fame and was twice inducted into the US Rugby Hall of Fame, |
21 | first as an individual, and later as a member of the United States 1991 World Cup Team. She was |
22 | named a “Woman of Achievement” by the YWCA in 2016, Coach of the Year by the Women’s |
23 | Sports Foundation in 2000, and Coach of the Year by USA Rugby in 2014; and |
24 | WHEREAS, While Coach Flores will be long-remembered for her incredible success in |
25 | rugby as a player and coach, she will live on forever in the hearts of the countless people within |
26 | the rugby community for her friendship, guidance and mentoring and they will forever remember |
27 | and be thankful for her legacy of fighting for women’s equality in the sport of rugby, in all |
28 | athletics, and throughout society; now, therefore be it |
29 | RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island hereby expresses its deepest |
30 | condolences on the passing of Kathy Flores; and be it further |
31 | RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to |
32 | transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Brown University President Christina Paxson. |
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