BURROUGHS HIGH — There are many in the community who still remember the contributions Bill Flora made to the youth sports programs in the city.
A successful and revered coach, teacher and administrator at Burroughs High, Flora also left a lasting impression among this peers and thousands of young athletes through his participation in the Burbank Park, Recreation and Community Services Department that spanned six decades.
Unfortunately, Flora died in June. He was 85.
To salute the memory of someone who had touched some may lives, members of the Magnolia Park Optimist Club created the William Flora Scholarship Award.
The inaugural award of $1,000 was presented to Burroughs senior basketball player Samantha Cross on May 19.
“I feel really honored to receive the scholarship award,” said Cross, who is planning on attending and playing basketball at College of the Canyons.
“[Bill Flora’s] family was there at the ceremony, and that was very nice.”
Cross was chosen because she displayed some of the qualities that Flora possessed as a student, player, teammate and coach.
This scholarship was open to all senior boys’ and girls’ athletes at Burroughs and Burbank highs.
A three-year varsity player for the Indians, Cross earned first-team All-Pacific League and second-team All-Area honors as a senior. She was also the team’s most valuable player.
The four-year scholar-athlete award winner averaged 14 points, two assists and 2.6 steals a game.
She helped Burroughs go 17-11 and finish second in league.
“I had a great time at Burroughs,” Cross said. “I really enjoyed it.”
Flora was an outstanding athlete in his own right at Burbank High, attending from 1940-42. He played basketball and baseball for the Bulldogs.
He went on to star at University of Redlands and was inducted to the college’s hall of fame in 1985.
Flora came to Burroughs High and became the school’s first basketball coach in 1949. Along with being a basketball and baseball coach, Flora served as a teacher and assistant principal during his 34-year career at the school.
His shining moment in coaching came in the 1955 when he guided the Indian basketball team to the Major Division CIF Southern Section championship game. Unfortunately for the Indians, they lost to Alhambra, 46-35.
No Burroughs team has ever reached the finals since.
His 1959 baseball team won the Foothill League title, and that wasn’t duplicated until 1997.
Flora was also involved in helping young students in the community by being chairman of the scholarship committee of the Magnolia Park Optimist Club for many years.
In his association with the park and rec department, Flora played softball and basketball during the late 1940s through the early 1960s.
Starting in 1942, he worked summers with the department. After serving in World War II, he returned to work for the department in 1956 and worked in the sports office and later coached baseball and softball.
After his retirement, he served on the Burbank Athletic Federation for 13 years from 1985-98. He was inducted to the Burbank Athletic Walk of Fame in 2007.
“Bill’s life had always centered around Burbank and it schools,” said Kip Flora, Bill’s widow. “It means so much to me and my family to have a scholarship given in his memory.”
