The Pittsburgh Harlequins is an American
rugby union
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
that was founded in 1973. The team is a member of the
USA Rugby Football Union, the
Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union, and the
Potomac Rugby Union.
History
, the team had forty active players, and has had over 300 alumni members since its founding by
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...
law students. It advanced to the Final 16 of the National Championships in 1999 and 2004.
The Pittsburgh Harlequins Rugby Football Association was created in 1995 to support the club, its facilities, and rugby youth outreach programs targeting underprivileged youth. In 1997, the RFA bought of land in
Indiana Township,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
and constructed two full-sized lighted rugby or soccer pitches with an adjacent parking lot and clubhouse.
The team helps to develop rugby in the Pittsburgh area through youth outreach programs and supports high school rugby teams, university teams such as the
Carnegie Mellon Rugby Football Club, and other age-grade all-star teams.
External links
Official SiteMid-Atlantic Rugby Football UnionPotomac Rugby Union
{{Pittsburgh sports
Rugby in Pittsburgh
1973 establishments in Pennsylvania
Rugby union teams in the United States
Rugby clubs established in 1973