The Pittsburgh Women’s Rugby Club was founded in the spring of 1976 and earned the nickname Angels soon afterwards when the ladies nicked a lawn ornament from a nativity scene and carried it with them as a mascot. The first members of the team were graduates and students of the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, the University of Pittsburgh and some professional women working in the city. In 2003, the Angels split from their university players to compete as a senior women’s club.
The Angels were very competitive in the Midwest and East for a number of years, playing the country’s top-ranking teams on a regular basis. In 1981, under Coach Jean-Pierre Pontier, the Angels finished second at the National Championships in Chicago.
The Angels took a short hiatus in the mid-80s. With the help of Leslie Bertel and Bari Wolynn, the Angels reentered the union in 1990, and the organization was rebuilt to regain prominence in the Midwest. The Angels maintained their competitiveness during the 90’s with the help of coach Roger Costello. The team remained a force in fifteens and had one of the best sevens teams at that time, finishing 2nd in the 2000 Midwest championship and 3rd in 2003 under coaches Tony Chappie and Angelo Pagliotti.
On the field, the Angels have become a force to be reckoned with in Division II rugby. After a 2005 Wildcard playoff berth and last-second loss to Detroit, the Angels regrouped and forged a path to nationals. In October of 2006, the Angels took home the Midwest Championship and entered nationals seeded second. After a long weekend of rugby, the Angels returned from Raleigh in third place for the nation.
A number of Angels have represented their club in select side play in recent years, with Kelly Evanovich, Desiree Markovich, and Jaimie Sullivan wearing the Thunderbird jersey as senior women’s Midwest representatives.
It was the hard work of Leslie, Phyllis Long, Lori Altenderfer, Jessica Ezykowsky, and Zie Raines, that enabled the Angels to not only remain competitive, but to also take on the task of teaching young women to play the game we love. In 1999, the Angels were approached by the Pittsburgh Harlequins Rugby Football Club to start a community based youth rugby program for young women in the Pittsburgh region. Teams from Schenley, Carrick, and Fox Chapel high schools currently participate.
The Angels became the sister club of the Pittsburgh Men’s Rugby Football Club in the fall of 2002 after the team split from the University of Pittsburgh Women’s Team. By 2003, the Angels formed an official partnership with their brother team, became shareholders in the Pittsburgh Rugby Association which manages Rugger’s Pub. Together, the men’s and women’s clubs work toward their long-term goal of acquiring a permanent playing facility.
