It has often been suggested that Pittsburgh is a football town.
The Steelers winning six Super Bowl titles over the past five decades has naturally cemented Pittsburgh’s status among the NFL’s most rabid football cities.
When the Pittsburgh Steeltoes — the city’s new men’s and women’s professional rugby teams — make their hometown debut this weekend, however, they will be doing so with an eye on creating a new order among the local sports franchises.
“I’m so excited for the fans of Pittsburgh to just welcome rugby into their town and be able to see this awesome sport showcased in the Steel City,” said Josie Ziluca, coach of the Steeltoes women’s team. “I’ve got to say, football, it’s a little one-dimensional. After a tackle, oh my gosh, play stops. Well, that’s pretty boring. We have players that play both offense and defense, and they’re required to do a lot of thinking on the field.”
Ziluca emphasized the excitement of her sport following the Steeltoes franchise’s first joint local practice Friday afternoon at The AHN Montour Junction Sports Complex in Coraopolis, which also hosts the Pittsburgh Riverhounds Academy.
“This is a town that loves sports,” she said. “Oh rugby, this is the moment, and we’re waiting for it. Rugby, in my opinion, is going to overtake the NFL in 20 years. So let’s start it here in the Steel City.”
Pittsburgh will host the Premier Rugby Sevens men’s and women’s Eastern Conference Finals beginning at 3 p.m. Sunday at Highmark Stadium in Station Square. The Eastern Conference’s four franchises will each see their men’s and women’s teams play two 14-minute games, with a spot in the PR7s Championships Aug. 6 in Washington, D.C., on the line.
Typical rugby matches feature 15-player lineups competing in 40-minute halves, while the seven-player game consists of two seven-minute halves.
“We would describe ourselves as a working-class team,” said Jason Kelly, coach of the Steeltoes men’s team. “We’re an expansion team, so it’s like, we didn’t get the pick of the litter, so to speak.
“All the existing teams already had their stars, and they got to keep all theirs, so we had to start from scratch with guys that, on paper, are probably not quite as heralded as a lot of the other teams have,” he added. “We’re definitely a working-class team. There’s no doubt about that.”
That’s not to suggest, though, the Steeltoes rosters are devoid of any star power.
Denver native and current San Diego resident Ben Pinkelman, who plays the prop position in sevens, leads the Steeltoes men’s team. After graduating from Colorado State in 2016, Pinkelman was named to the U.S. Olympic team and competed at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Nicholas Smith, Alex Wormer and David Hightower join with Pinkelman to create a talented core capable of leading the Steeltoes to the nation’s capital, Kelly said.
“We’ve come together really well,” Pinkelman said. “I think our coaches have done a great job of building the culture, getting guys to really buy in on each other. It’s been a good time.”
On the women’s side, the Steeltoes boast a two-time Olympian in Sara Kaljuvee.
A native of Toronto, who now lives in Victoria, British Columbia, Kaljuvee is a member of the Canadian national team, competing in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and the 2020 games in Tokyo.
Kaljuvee played for her home country in the World Rugby Pacific Four Series, which includes the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, last week.
A native of France, Meg Mambe, and Sophie Ragg, a native of England, join Kaljuvee to give the Steeltoes a group of leaders with some energetic and hard-nosed international flair, Ziluca said.
“This team is a very special team,” said Kaljuvee, who plays flyhalf. “We had a great time in Austin. Everyone clicked right away. The connection is there.”
The Steeltoes men’s and women’s teams currently sit in third place in their respective divisions with a 1-1 record following their Premier Rugby Sevens Eastern Conference Kickoff matches last month in Austin, Texas.
Both teams lost their first games, which put them in an early hole in the season-opening kickoff event. In addition to the Steeltoes, the Eastern Conference includes the Austin-based Texas Team, Memphis-based Southern Headliners and New York-based Locals.
“We carry ourselves as definitely the team to beat,” Kaljuvee said. “We have a lot of big runners, a lot of big hitters. Honestly, the game, and our team is electric. I think everyone has their own X-factor. Last [month] you saw some people lay the other team out. We had steals, we had intercepts, we had some big tries. It’s a really exciting team.”
Playing strong defense is critical for the men’s and women’s Steeltoes teams.
“All the games are really close, so it comes down to key moments,” Pinkelman said. “The biggest thing for that is just your basics, really just not letting anyone score through the middle of our defense, just being one unit, pushing everything to the outside and then not giving away lazy turnovers by not supporting each other in the ruck or throwing the ball away.
“As long as we can take care of the ball and just not give up easy tries on defense that usually puts you on the right end of those critical moments in these tight sevens games.”
In addition to the Steeltoes, North Hills graduate Scout Cheeks will also represent Pittsburgh this weekend as a member of the Southern Headliners.
A former Penn Hills Rugby Club player, who also was a member of the Penn State women’s team, Cheeks plays center and hooker in Premier Rugby Sevens matches.
“It’s really cool,” she said. “I’m battling nervousness, but this is an awesome experience to be able to play in my hometown in front of my family.”
Cheeks said she tore her hamstring two weeks before the Headliners’ first match last season and missed the entire 2022 campaign. She said she is looking forward to the opportunity to play spoiler for the hometown teams’ debut.
“We’re here for a reason,” Cheeks said. “I think we did what we needed to do at the last leg in Austin. We are just here to continue on with that.”
Kazakhstan native Mikhail “Misha” Shorin, who now lives in Pittsburgh, will also represent his adopted hometown along with Cheeks, but on the Steeltoes men’s team.
“I know it sounds cliché and corny, but I just feel blessed to be here,” Cheeks said. “These are things that you work hard for, whether it’s coming off an injury, you work hard to be in these positions and being able to perform.”
John is a copy editor and page designer at the Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at jsanta@unionprogress.com.