(This is Part 2 of a series about the impact of the launch of the Riveters in 2025. Click here to read Part 1, where local girls and young women in soccer share their thoughts about the new team.)
The emergence of the Pittsburgh Riveters represents a goal for young girls and an opportunity for young women still playing the game, bringing a higher level right to our back yard in Pittsburgh.
But the team also represents growth in the sports industry overall, and specifically in women’s sports.
Karina Graziani is one example of the opportunities sports provide off the field, serving as the Associate Director of Athletics for Sports Communications at Carlow University.
“It’s really something different when you see women’s sports, you watch that on TV, and you get to experience that same excitement with a women’s team,” Graziani said.
Graziani has experience working with Riverhounds — in addition to Carlow’s soccer teams calling Highmark Stadium home — and she has seen the excitement for soccer in Pittsburgh firsthand. With her experience working with young, female athletes, she believes that this excitement can exist for the Riveters.
“I think being part of that organization in that way is going to help with notoriety. It will help get the word out and get the excitement going a little bit quicker,” she said.
“I would say Pittsburgh’s a soccer town, from all the games that we’ve had, all the sellouts that we’ve had with the Hounds. So it’s really exciting for me to see how this sport is going to grow in Pittsburgh.”
She also acknowledged the potential to provide representation in the industry beyond as athletes.
“I just think representation is important. It’s really hard to imagine yourself doing something if you don’t see someone who looks like you doing it,” Graziani said. “Even in my career, there were not a lot of women in sports information, but when I go to the conference in the summer, there’s a lot more.”
Katie Stumpp, the Associate Athletic Director of Administration at the University of Pittsburgh, knows that Pittsburgh is ready for women after guiding women’s programs at the NCAA Division I level.
Stumpp has led an extensive career in college sports, from interning for the NCAA to working for Purdue University and Ohio State University. Now at Pitt, she is the administrator for women’s soccer, as well as the baseball team, band and spirit team.
The Riveters represent the growth of women’s athletics beyond college. With the continuing investment in women’s leagues, women’s sports don’t have to end after school.
“The opportunity is there. I mean, I think (the old way of thinking) is, well, I can go to college, and I can play soccer, but then that’s it,” Stumpp said.
“And so when you start building the ladder here, you have all these other opportunities that can come from being a really good high school player and then being a really good college player.”
On the recent success of women’s sports across the country, Stumpp notes that it is setting a standard of excellence.
“You’re showing the youth, and you’re showing young women that anything is possible. And you could be out there, right?” Stumpp said. “I think the most amount of success or growth comes from being able to see and have someone there, knowing you don’t have to be the one to break through. Somebody is there and giving them an example of, “I can do this,” because it is possible.”
Stumpp also mentions a key theme among college athletes and professionals is the joy that soccer has brought them and the value it holds in their lives.
“This is the opportunity to give the youth that something to look up to and something to aspire to, giving them more role models in their life and helping them to celebrate soccer as much as they can,” she said.
As the Riveters bring the new era of women’s sports to Pittsburgh, they will need community support. And many people had a message for our first team of Riveters athletes.
“Thank you for taking part in this. And I mean, I know it’s probably not going to be easy, because I’ve met a lot of women’s athletes that have to do stuff on the side as well. I just think that’s really inspirational that you’re willing to take the risk, if you will,” said Carlow soccer player Meghan McCoy.
“I just want to let them know that what they’re doing really is so amazing and special,” said Anna Gribik, another Carlow player. “Being able to actually go watch these women play is going to be such an important thing for all of the young athletes, so I want to let the players know how important they are and how big of an influence they have on women in Pittsburgh.”
“We have a saying with women’s soccer here (at Pitt) that they made ‘herstory.’ And that’s been something fun,” Stumpp said. “Leave your legacy has been our other big thing. Go out there, and we’re behind you, and you always have the opportunity to create your own legacy and to make ‘herstory’ in some way.”
(Feature by Riveters contributor Jameson Keebler.)