Brown Athletics Announces Passing of Women’s Rugby Coach, Hall of Famer Kathy Flores
Thursday, October 21, 2021
Brown Athletics mourns the passing of women's rugby head coach Kathy Flores, a trailblazer in women's rugby for six decades.
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A 2016 U.S. Rugby Hall of Fame inductee, Coach Flores spent the last eight seasons at the helm of the Brown program following an illustrious playing and coaching career across the country. She was the third female inducted into the U.S. Rugby Hall of Fame.
"Kathy Flores has been synonymous with Brown women's rugby since the moment she arrived on College Hill in 2013," said M. Grace Calhoun, PhD., Vice President for Athletics and Recreation. "Kathy's impact on the game extends far beyond College Hill with a remarkable playing and coaching career spanning six decades. Her mark on the Brown program and women's rugby as a whole leaves a lasting legacy that will endure for decades."
Flores led the Bears as a club program in 2013, and through its infancy as a Division I program in 2014 to its present-day standing as one of the nation's top programs. The Brown women's rugby program has been one of the most diverse in the country under Coach Flores, with student-athletes representing 31 states and eight countries at the varsity level. Excelling not only on the field, the program consistently placed double-digit students on NIRA All-Academic teams, including 13 in 2019-20.
In Brown's first varsity season, Coach Flores was named the 2014 USA Rugby Female Coach of the Year after guiding the Bears to a 9-1 overall record and perfect 7-0 mark in Ivy play.
The Bears returned to the Ivy Championship game in 2015, falling to Dartmouth in Coach Flores' second season at the helm. Brown finished the 2015 season with a 6-4 overall record and 4-1 conference mark.
The Bears advanced to the NIRA Tier II Championship in 2019 with a 23-15 semifinal win over Queens. In all, Coach Flores guided Brown to a 28-23-1 overall record at the varsity level. Brown garnered eight All-American selections under Coach Flores.
Prior to her time on College Hill, Flores served as the head coach of the U.S. Women's National Team from 2002-10, the first female and first woman of color to coach a national team. She was named the International Rugby Board's 2003 International Women's Personality of the Year for her contributions to the game as a player and administrator. On the national coaching stage, Coach Flores led the U.S. National team to fifth-place finishes at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups. Victories in the tournaments came over Australia, Canada, Ireland, Kazakhstan, and Scotland.
After graduating from the East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania in 1977, Flores began her rugby career on the club team at Florida State University as a graduate student. From there, Flores competed on the United States National Team and the Berkeley All-Blues. In 1997, Flores was inducted into the East Stroudsburg University Hall of Fame.
Flores competed with the unofficial National Team in 1986 as they played exhibitions across Europe. She was the No. 8 and captain in the U.S.'s first official international appearance at the 1987 Can-Am Rugby Tournament as the Americans defeated Canada, 22-3, with Flores scoring a try.
In the 1991 Women's Rugby World Cup, the first tournament with that name, Flores and the United States defied odds to defeat England in the Championship Game. From 1986-98, Flores and the United States National Team compiled a 24-5 record in international play.
Following her illustrious career, Flores retired as a player in 1998. The 1991 U.S. Women's Team was inducted into the U.S. Rugby Hall of Fame in 2017. Individually, Flores was named a 2016 YWCA Woman of Achievement award winner, a 2006 Rugby Football Union Pioneer of the Women's Game, and honorable mention on the list of the ten Greatest North American Rugby Players.
Coach Flores' impact on the Brown and rugby communities as a whole is indelible, with accomplishments and accolades as a player and coach spanning six decades.
Joan '72 and Paul Sorensen '71 have established the Kathy Flores Head Coaching Chair for Women's Rugby at Brown University. The Kathy Flores Coaching Chair recognizes and honors Kathy for her contributions as a pioneering coach and educator.
