Stages don’t get much larger than Acrisure Stadium.
As it turned out, that was just fine with the Sto-Rox Girls Flag Football Team.
On Sunday, the brand-new squad took the field at Acrisure Stadium for a scrimmage against Oakland Catholic and won, 13-0. Over the next several weeks, Sto-Rox will take part in a pilot program in partnership with the Pittsburgh Steelers, with the aim of making Girls Flag Football a PIAA-sanctioned high school sport.
Sto-Rox is coached by Lauren Ferragonio, head of security at Sto-Rox Jr./Sr. High School and a national champion in USA Women’s Football playing on the offensive line.
“It was so amazing and we all had an absolute blast,” said Ferragonio in an email.
The Steelers went the extra mile for Sto-Rox and the rest of the teams playing at Acrisure Staidum. Jerseys were hung in their locker rooms, and the girls got to run out of the Steelers’ tunnel as their teams were introduced. There was even a Sto-Rox connection inside the stadium: two women who work in the Steelers Hall of Honor are from McKees Rocks.
“They were absolutely ecstatic to see Sto-Rox represented in the league,” said Ferragonio. (They) “greeted our girls with, ‘There’s our Vikings! We’ve been waiting to meet you guys!’”
The Vikings’ first regular season games will take place Sunday, April 16 at Ambridge. They’ll take on Aliquippa at 3:00 p.m. and then Ambridge at 3:45 p.m. The season will follow that pattern all the way to Sunday, May 21, when the teams will reconvene at Acrisure Staidum for a season-ending tournament. Check out photos from Sunday’s game and download the team’s schedule here or at the Athletics home page.
DOWNLOAD: Girls Flag Football Schedule (PDF)
