Judge Tara Flanagan: From Chico State to World Cup Champion

Hours after receiving congressional honors for winning the first Women's Rugby World Cup, Superior Court Judge Tara Flanagan walked into a Capitol Hill bar and bumped into a group wearing Chico State gear. The coincidence sparked a celebration of a journey that began on a Northern California campus 46 years ago.

Flanagan arrived at Chico State in 1980 as a 17-year-old basketball recruit from Concord. Standing six feet tall with an aggressive playing style, she became the only freshman to make the varsity roster that year.

She spent two years in Chico, living in Lassen Hall and spending one memorable summer painting residence hall rooms. "I remember driving into Chico on a high school visit and just thinking, 'Wow,'" she said. "Right then I knew, 'This is where I wanted to go to school.'"

Her college years fell during a pivotal time for women's sports. Title IX had passed less than a decade earlier, but female athletes still competed without many benefits given to men's programs. Chico State didn't even award varsity letters to women during Flanagan's playing days.

After transferring to Cal State Northridge for more playing time, Flanagan earned All-Conference honors and led her team to the NCAA Division II Sweet Sixteen. An early WNBA team drafted her, but she was cut on the final day of training camp.

"It was the first time in my life I'd ever been cut from anything," she said. She assumed her competitive playing days were over.

Then a girlfriend introduced her to rugby. Flanagan watched players smashing into each other with bleeding wounds and thought they were crazy. When the Santa Monica Old Girls Club needed an emergency substitute, she reluctantly agreed to play.

She was hooked immediately. "I was often in foul trouble in basketball," she said with a laugh. "In rugby, it was refreshing to be able to hit people and not have to worry about the whistle blowing."

Her physicality and work ethic made her one of the best players in the country. In 1991, she helped Team USA win the inaugural Women's Rugby World Cup in Cardiff, Wales.

Why This Inspires

Flanagan's story shows how closed doors can lead to open fields. Getting cut from basketball freed her to discover rugby, where she became a world champion. That same resilience carried her through law school and onto the bench as a Superior Court judge in Alameda County, where she's served since 2013.

More than 30 years after leaving campus, Chico State invited former women athletes back to receive the varsity letters they'd been denied. Flanagan jumped at the chance to reconnect with teammates and legendary coach Fran Coslet.

This year's congressional honor brought her full circle, from a campus where women's achievements went unrecognized to the floor of Congress celebrating those same athletes as pioneers.

When Flanagan met President Steve Perez and fellow Wildcats at that D.C. bar, it proved the old saying true: once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat.