2017 -- H 5861

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2017

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

HONORING DEBRA MCMULLEN FOR HER MANY YEARS OF EXCELLENCE AS AN

ATHLETE, TEACHER AND COACH

     Introduced By: Representatives Giarrusso, Kennedy, and Solomon

     Date Introduced: March 07, 2017

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, Debra McMullen is a 1983 graduate of East Greenwich High School. She

excelled at numerous sports and won many honors for her achievements. In field hockey she set a

record for goals scored and was named First Team All Division and Second Team All State. In

basketball she was named First Team All Division in 1983, and in Softball she was named

Second Team All State and First Team All Division in 1983. Debra was also named the Crimson

Yearbook's Athlete of the Year, the first female to receive this honor; and

     WHEREAS, Debra McMullen earned a Bachelor of Science in Health Fitness from

Springfield College and later attained a Master's of Education degree in Physical Education &

Health in 1997 from Springfield College. Since 1991, she has served as a Health & Physical

Education teacher at Cole Middle School. She served as the Athletic Director at East Greenwich

High School from 2002 to 2005, and also served as the Athletic Coordinator & Student

Coordinator at Cole Middle School; and

     WHEREAS, Debra is one of the most successful coaches in Rhode Island High School

sports. As a Head Coach in the sport of Field Hockey, her teams have won five State Titles and

eight Division Titles. As a basketball coach, her teams were Division Finalists twice and Quarter

Finalists once; and

     WHEREAS, Debra McMullen has received numerous awards in honor of her coaching

excellence. She was named the 2011 Rhode Island Interscholastic League Coach of the Year. She

was also named the Coach of the Year by Southern Rhode Island Newspapers in 2009 and 2011,

was named the Rhode Island Athletic Administrators Association Coach of the Year in 1995, the

Rhode Island Field Hockey Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 1994, and, with her team,

won the Providence Journal Winter Sportsmanship Award in 1995. Debra was elected to the East

Greenwich Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995, only the second woman to be so honored, and was a

Wall of Honor Inductee in 2015; and

     WHEREAS, Since 2013, Debra McMullen has served as the President of the Rhode

Island Field Hockey Coaches Association (RIFHCA), and previously served as their Treasurer

from 1994 to 2000. She has also served as the Vice President of the East Greenwich Basketball

Association since 2009. Thanks to her guidance and superb coaching, Debra has helped athletes

get admitted into schools such as Old Dominion, Wake Forest, Providence College, Holy Cross,

Dartmouth College, Boston College, and many other leading universities; and

     WHEREAS, Debra married Sean McMullen in 1996 and together they have four

children, Kaley, Courtney, Abbey and Jack; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and

Providence Plantations hereby honors Debra McMullen for her many years of excellence as an

athlete, teacher and Coach and wish her continued success in all her future endeavors; and be it

further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Debra McMullen.

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