Alumna Stephanie Harrison stands with fellow soccer players in downtown Pittsburgh.

Alumna Stephanie Harrison ('12) has added a new team to the City of Champions and hopes to inspire girls in the region to get in the game.

When Harrison moved from Clarion to Pittsburgh after graduation, she thought that helping to coach the soccer team at Chatham would fill the void she felt after her final collegiate soccer game. She'd played for Clarion's women's soccer team for four years while she studied for her bachelor's in psychology and "loved every minute of it."

Being able to stay on the soccer field while she worked on her master's and Ph.D. in counseling psychology felt like the best of both worlds. Harrison soon learned, though, that she wasn't ready to coach; she missed playing.

"I knew at the time that I wanted to keep playing, but I told myself, 'Coaching will be fine,'" Harrison said. "But then I found myself driving home from games, starting to cry and wishing I'd been able to be on the field. Even at practice I just wished I were playing instead of coaching."

Despite her limited free time, Harrison set out to find a team willing to take her on as a defender. A small-town girl from Butler, she expected that a city like Pittsburgh would hold countless opportunities for someone in her position.

"I looked around, and as I was researching, it sort of slowly dawned on me; this city has two men's soccer teams--the Pittsburgh Riverhounds and the Fort Pitt Regiment--but there isn't a single women's team," Harrison said.

Somewhat dismayed, Harrison told her academic advisor about her failed search.

"I went to my advisor's office and just kind of casually talked about my disappointment, and she just looked at me and said, 'You should do something about that.'" Harrison said. "So I decided to."

Thus, Steel City F.C., Pittsburgh's semi-pro women's soccer team, was born.

It's clear that--along with a competitive streak a mile long--Harrison has lived with this decisive nature her whole life. Though each of her six siblings dabbled in soccer when they were young, she was the only one who stuck with it.

"I think I just wanted to be different than them," she said.

Harrison continued to play through elementary and middle school. By the time she was 15, she was ready to play on a club team. Her parents, though supportive of her passion, couldn't commit to driving her to games across the region while working and raising her siblings.

Determined to play, Harrison didn't let that stop her. She attended the first practice where she met Jordan Daloiso ('12), who lived in the neighboring town of Kittanning and whose parents offered to take Harrison to games and practices. Soon after, as Harrison and Daloiso transitioned quickly from new teammates to best friends, Harrison realized for the first time that she wanted to play soccer in college.

Part of this revelation came from the peace Harrison found on the field.

"Soccer was sort of just mine," she said. "My parents would ask, 'Oh, how did the game go?' and things like that, but it was really my space away from everything." Beyond its physical benefits, Harrison joked that soccer was a good way to avoid doing chores around the house.

After four successful years of high school and club soccer, Harrison settled on Clarion as her new home. She found an immediate connection with the squad's coach at the time, Nina Alonzo, forsaking even California University of Pennsylvania, whose women's soccer program has a recent history of notable success.

Along with the school and the soccer program, like so many before her, Harrison says the town of Clarion won her heart almost immediately.

"I loved Clarion as a town," she said. "Especially Main Street. It's so cute and there's a lot going on. I really just fell in love with it the first time I visited."

It didn't take long for Harrison to decide on Clarion, especially when Daloiso revealed that she, too, would be a Golden Eagle.

The pair played all four years on the women's soccer team, though Harrison singles out her junior year as her standout season.

"That year I played every minute of every game," Harrison said proudly.

Her senior year was not quite as successful, as Harrison was riddled with a series of injuries. Still, Harrison fondly looks back on all of her time on the Clarion pitch.

"We sometimes had trouble winning games and, well, scoring, but we were a good team, and I loved the people I got to play with."

That love for the game was a major part of what drove Harrison to form Steel City F.C., though she soon found that her new endeavor wasn't quite as straightforward as lacing up her cleats and stepping onto the field.

"Honestly, I had absolutely no idea how I was going to make it happen," Harrison said. "But I had a lot of people who were willing to help me, and a lot of support from the community."

Among those involved were Harrison's two sisters--a lobbyist and a lawyer--who helped secure nonprofit status for the team and organized a network of potential donors and sponsors.

During the fundraising campaign, Harrison made contact with a UPMC employee whose daughter played soccer. According to Harrison, he was thrilled with the idea of a team for his daughter to watch and look up to, and got the team's information into the hands of the right people at UPMC. The organization soon became a lead sponsor for Steel City FC, donating the expertise of their athletic trainers and providing financial support for the team.

Harrison also credits Betsy Warren, Chatham's head soccer coach, for her help in organizing tryouts and helping to staff the team, and Daloiso, who--though studying abroad in Ireland--managed the team's Facebook page, a major element in the team's online presence. She also thanks the city of Pittsburgh itself.

"I don't think this would have worked so well or taken shape so quickly in any other place," Harrison said. "I think people in Pittsburgh--from Councilman Dan Gillman who constantly helped set me up with the right people, to the different businesses that clearly wanted to support a women's sports team in the city--they're the ones who really made this happen."

"It's such a strong community. Even at our first game, we had more than 150 people show up," she said. "Obviously I cried. Especially seeing people with their daughters at these games. It's mind blowing."

Those daughters, Harrison reflected, are a big part of why Steel City F.C. exists.

"As we went through the process of creating this team, it actually became less about me," she said. "Yes, I wanted a team to play with, but I realized I also wanted a team for young girls to look up to.

"If you grow up in Pittsburgh--it's a city of champions. Little boys dream of playing on the Steelers or the Pirates, but girls don't have as many opportunities. So seeing girls, whether they're 6 or 16, come to a Steel City game--that was incredible."

When it comes to getting girls into sports, Harrison doesn't just talk the talk; she's writing her doctoral thesis on the subject, exploring the psychology behind young girls who play sports. Though her paper is unfinished, Harrison's early research has found that women who played sports at a young age tend to be more assertive and confident than their non-athlete counterparts.

Steel City F.C. isn't alone in its effort to inspire young women to pursue sports, and with the success of Team USA in winning the 2015 Women's World Cup, Harrison believes now is the perfect time to get involved.

"People are really starting to realize that these women are athletes, and they're good athletes. And it's just getting people excited about soccer in general, as well as women's soccer," Harrison said.

"After the World Cup, I think parents will start to say, 'Oh, my daughter is enjoying this or my son is enjoying this, and hey there's this local team--let's go check them out,' and that can get kids even more excited about playing."

In its inaugural season, Steel City F.C. tallied six wins, two losses, and one tie, though Harrison noted that both losses were to the top team in their division.

"It was a whirlwind," Harrison said. "When I look back on it, I can't believe how quickly it went from being a concept in my head to being a real thing."

"It was a ton of work," she said with a laugh. "I think my school work this year might have taken a hit but--hey--I made it."

To learn more about Steel City F.C. and find out how you can support the team, visit www.SteelCityFC.com.