Amid national championships, new stadiums, and cheering fans, women’s sports teams like the Pittsburgh Passion, Steel City Roller Derby and Pittsburgh Angels are just three teams in town that build camaraderie and foster a positive atmosphere for gay and straight players alike.
The teams – open to anyone who can pass the try-out –are full of diversity, especially since contact sports lend themselves to all body types. While rippling muscles are great, the skills that beginners develop with hard work and the help of coaches and teammates are much more important.
PITTSBURGH PASSION
Last August, stepping on to the turf at Heinz Field was an honor, even if the Pittsburgh Passion were only watching the Women’s Football Alliance championships in the NFL stadium.
About 800 fans attended the game between the San Diego Surge and Chicago Force, which was also broadcast on ESPN3. “It’s just a breath-taking experience and I know all the ladies felt that it was something they will always cherish,” says Veronica Burress of the Passion, which served as local hosts to the event.
Founded in 2002, the Passion is entering its 11th season. In 2007, the team was the undefeated national champion of the Women’s Football Alliance, which has about 60 teams across the United States. Former Pittsburgh Steeler Franco Harris became a co-owner of the team in 2011.
The Pittsburgh women – who once shoveled snow from the field for winter practices and lit the field for practice with car headlights–now hold indoor practices at the Club Sport and Health in Monroeville and have a new home this season at Highmark Stadium in Station Square.
Owner and Head Coach Teresa Conn wants to earn this year’s national title for the City of Champions. “We want to help build our city and reflect our city any way we can,” she says. “We’ve been embraced. We’re very lucky. If you’re going to have a football team, Pittsburgh is the place to do it.”
And the hits are just as hard and the fouls just as rough as men’s sports, says 25-year-old Jessica Nelko, a second-year player with the Passion.
“Half the time you won’t even know it’s a girl out there … besides the ponytail and nowadays that’s not even a guarantee,” she says.
Veronica Burress, a 41-year-old in her 8th season with the Passion, said she is encouraged by support Pittsburgh fans give the hard-working women. “You have just amazing women on this team,” she says. “You see it moving towards a more positive light … women’s football is inspiring young women to get more involved and not be afraid.”
But female athletes who feel free to be aggressive, strong, and loud face the persistent stereotype that they are likely to be lesbians, especially in “masculine” contact sports.
Steel City Roller derby player Emily “Public Emily” Grey said that actually helps “open up the door” for an honest discussion at places like work where personal details are sometimes a touchy subject.
She looks forward to relieving the stress of her job with an ambulance service – and Pittsburgh traffic — at practice twice per week. “It’s so much easier to be yourself,” Emily, 31, said. “It’s not like ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ and slip up and be uncomfortable.”
Passion players, who do outreach programs for schools and community groups, emphasize that all women can play sports – and do just as well as men, says Angela Baker. “We try to show the girls we can be girly, pretty girls on the sidelines, then put on some pads and go hit someone,” says the 20-year-old player in her second season with the team.
A softball and basketball player at Slippery Rock, Angela saw ads in programs at sports games for the Passion that inspired her to tryout. Since age 5, she had played flag football for the Girls and Boys Club in Carnegie and also played powderpuff in high school.
“The intensity is a lot greater here,” she said, as practices are held three times per week and include drills, scrimmages, or a “chalk talk” session reviews plays.
As a young lesbian woman, Angela felt it was easier to come out to her teammates because of the compassionate atmosphere. “It’s not that I feel more pressure, it’s because I feel more open,” she says.
STEEL CITY ROLLER DERBY
The Steel City Roller Derby, founded in 2006, is a skater-owned and operated organization and member of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association, which has more than 175 teams worldwide.
With good hits come only congratulations, not grudges, says Steel City Roller Derby Coach Jamie “J-Bomb” Mulvihill.
About 13 new players take to the flat-track league this season as “fresh meat,” or rookies. “We take everyone at their level and build them up to be a good player,” she says.
Roller derby has seen a resurgence of popularity, but is more about athleticism now than the theatrics of the 1970s, says Lora “The LorAxe” Woodward. “This is a legitimate sport. These women are working out in addition to coming out to play,” she says.
Trisha “RedruM Blur” Campbell said the squads chosen this year will bring fans a fast-paced, high-intensity season, which continues through August. “As good as you are, you always need to be getting better,” she says. “Every season … I still know I have to keep working harder.”
PITTSBURGH ANGELS
This season, the Pittsburgh Angels plan to defend the 2012 USA Rugby Division II National Championship title.
Coach Tony Chappie says interested women can join now to learn from the best during the lower-stakes spring season. “Now’s a good time if you’re a beginner,” he says. “(The players) have done very, very well; they’re just under the radar.”
The Pittsburgh Rugby Association, including the women’s and men’s teams, owns Rugger’s Pub on the South Side.
Founded in 1976, the Angels got their name from a lawn ornament “nicked from a nativity scene” by members, according to the team’s website. The women joined the association in 2003 as a club team and are working with the men to develop a permanent playing facility for the organization.
Both teams play the football-style sport without pads or helmets and compete on the same level, says Angels’ captain Jaime Filipek.
“The games play out a little differently but the rules are the same … the guys respect us and I think that’s a big thing,” she says.
Ashley “Butter” Lively identifies as straight and supports her Angels teammates because rugby itself creates a bond.
“For me it’s a sense of pride that we’re a part of a sport that not many men play, much less women play,” she says. “The subculture of rugby is the most prevalent subculture that we relate to.”
Jaime Filipek, one of the team’s captains, said the camaraderie helped encourage her to come out as bisexual to her teammates. “I don’t think there’s any trouble fitting in on our team,” she says. “I think a lot of girls almost find it as an outlet if they’re coming out too.”
Her teammate Meesha Gerhart says she didn’t really know where to fit in with Pittsburgh’s LGBT community, so having both straight and lesbian teammates has helped. “It was just like me talking to my sisters,” she says. “I wanted to play rugby and when I eventually did come out, it was like, ‘no big deal, can you hit someone?’”
Steel City Derby Demon Chelly “Captain Crash” Johnson says all the practices, injuries and hard work are worth it. “I love that I gained 70 family members and that at the end of the day I can skate my heart out,” she says.
When Chelly first heard about roller derby, she was in awe.
“I thought it was so badass,” she says. She bought her skates from a local Goodwill and taught herself how to skate in the four months before try-outs.
Now in her second season with the team, Chelly glides around the track with her girlfriend hoisting signs in the audience and cheering her on.
Even fans unfamiliar with the rules of the games can catch on quickly and enjoy the women’s athleticism and victories.
Veronica said she believes more women’s sports, including football will be just as highly regarded as men’s sports in the future. “We’re paving the way for a younger generation,” she says.
And to the few who still don’t believe women belong on the field, court or rink unless they’re in cheerleading skirts, Angela invites them to come and see the athletes in action.
“I tell them to come to a game,” she says. “We do it for the love of the game.
GO TO A GAME:
STEEL CITY DERBY DEMONS Romp N’ Roll, 1661 E. Sutter Road , Glenshaw April 13: vs. DC Rollergirls May 11: vs. Fort Wayne Derby Girls June 8: vs. Chicago Outfit Roller Derby July 13: vs. Philly Roller Girls August 10: vs. Ohio Rollergirls For more info, visit steelcityderbydemon.com
PITTSBURGH ANGELS Norwin Soccer Complex, 3700 Turner Valley Road, North Huntingdon April 6: Opponent TBD April 13: vs. Philadelphia April 20: vs. Chesapeake For more info visit pghrugby.com
PITTSBURGH PASSION Highmark Stadium, 510 West Station Square Drive, Pittsburgh April 6: vs. D.C. Divas April 27: vs. Columbus Comets May 11: vs. Boston Militia June 8: vs. Detroit Dark Angels For more info, visit pittsburghpassion.com
OTHER WOMEN’S SPORTS TEAMS: Pittsburgh Force–women’s football pittsburghforce.net Westmoreland Roller Derby westcoderby.com Pittsburgh Puffins women’s hockey pghpuffins.com Steel City Sirens women’s hockey steelcitysirens.com
