In this new year, a new wave of women’s sports and representation is coming to Pittsburgh when the Pittsburgh Riveters take the field.
The team was created to honor a legacy of female strength, with a name reflecting on women’s positions in World War II efforts, but it also exists for everyone in Pittsburgh.
To prepare for the Riveters’ arrival in 2025, we explored what this team means to members of our women’s soccer community.
Anna Korney is a player for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds Development Academy. The 14-year-old freshman at DuBois Area High School recently played in the National Selection Game at the ECNL Florida showcase, and the summer of 2024, she was selected for the U.S. Girls National Team Camp.
Korney received acclaim at a young age, but her passion for the sport has only grown. She started playing soccer at only three years old. Today, she sees soccer as a way to express herself.
“My favorite thing about soccer is the way you get to express yourself on the field. All my worries go away whenever I’m on the field, and I’m just focused about the game. I think of it as art. It’s just the different moves, the different techniques, the different styles,” Korney said.
Her appreciation for the artistry of soccer shows the importance of the sport. For these kids, it’s not just activity but a large part of their lives, especially when playing at a high level.
Korney is growing into the kind of athlete younger girls will look up to, but she still looks for role models herself. When asked about what the Riveters can bring to her community, Korney mentioned the importance of girls having athletes they can look up to. That makes the Riveters special, because they are bringing those high-level players directly to Pittsburgh.
“I think it’s amazing, because I feel like growing up, it was always men. Like they’re always the superstars. And now that women are becoming the superstars, there’s more to look up to,” Korney said.
Soccer has always been a popular sport for American girls, and Korney’s view on the importance of women superstars is a shared sentiment. Women have been making accomplishments in soccer across the country for years, but now the Riveters can bring these figures to Pittsburgh.
“I kind of just had the U.S. Women’s National Team. I think it’s really, really valuable that they’re going to have something local, that they’re going to have people here in Pittsburgh,” said Meghan McCoy, a Pittsburgh native and freshman on the Carlow University women’s soccer team. “They can look at these players, and they don’t have to look at the national scale.”
McCoy’s teammates, Arley Wilson and Anna Gribik, feel the same way about having a local presence for high-level women’s sports.
Gribik is a sophomore at Carlow, while Wilson is a senior. Both women are from Western Pa. — Gribik from Clarion and Wilson from Connellsville — and both mentioned growing up in a community that places value in sports.
“Pittsburgh is very passionate about their sports. So I hope it’s the same way for the women’s team that it is for all the men’s teams,” Gribik said.
McCoy mentioned the value that soccer has brought in providing a sense of belonging and togetherness.
“It gave me a really great community. I mean, obviously different communities throughout my life, but just the overall soccer community has been so welcoming and so supportive, and that’s something that I couldn’t ever replace,” McCoy said.
The tight-knit soccer community merging with the passionate following of sports in Pittsburgh creates a massive opportunity for these athletes.
“It’s awesome. And it’s going to open up so many more opportunities (for players here), instead of them having to go to other places to play,” Wilson said. “Pittsburgh is bringing it here. And they’ll be here and be able to stay with family and so much more.”
For these college athletes, the Riveters means a lot. It’s not only an additional playing opportunity or a source of inspiration but also evidence that women belong in all aspects of sports.
“I think it’s really showing that this is worth investing in and that it could be very, very equivalent with men’s sports,” McCoy said.
(Feature by Riveters contributor Jameson Keebler. Part two of this series can be found here.)