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Sports league fields feeling of community
Tuesday, March 20, 2001 By Daniel Casciato
As a volleyball serve torpedoes toward the baseline, Carl Beck dives from the back row, hoping to prevent yet another ace by the opposing team's female star. But instead of a miraculous "dig," he manages only to graze the ball, which dribbles away.
His teammates chuckle at his valiant attempt. And as Beck rises to his feet, he has to chuckle himself. The competition sometimes is fierce in the Pittsburgh Sports League, but fun is the name of the game.
Though only six months old, the league is growing steadily. More than 300 people, most in their 20s, play volleyball, flag football, basketball, bowling, billiards and other team sports. The league is a subsidiary of the Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project or PUMP, a not-for-profit organization of young and young-thinking people that aims to make this region a more dynamic and engaging place to live.
Coed recreational leagues are not a new concept. They have been around for decades and abide by a simple formula: play for about an hour, then go out afterward and socialize. Compared to other major cities, Pittsburgh has relatively few coed adult sports leagues. There are a few organized leagues for individual sports, such as softball and volleyball, and the YMCA has leagues for a handful of sports such as basketball and volleyball. But the PSL is the first to try to offer so many sports in one league; it plans on hosting 15-20 different sports per year.
The league was the idea of Drew Elste, a Sewickley native and PUMP Board member who moved back to Pittsburgh three years ago after attending college and working in Chicago.
"Three years ago, a friend of mine got a few of us together to play on a coed softball team. One of the biggest challenges he faced was not in finding enough people for our team but actually finding a league for us to play in," he said.
Elste made a pitch to the PUMP board last spring.
"Even though funding and operating the PSL was a risk, convincing the board of PUMP to sign on was a slam dunk," he recalled.
PUMP president Carey Harris liked his idea but admits that she and a few other board members were skeptical at first. She was pleasantly surprised by its success.
"Not everyone is interested in the events and programs that we sponsor. However, we do want to appeal to all young professionals, and with the Pittsburgh Sports League, we feel we have tapped into a new segment of that audience," she said.
The PSL kicked off its inaugural season with coed flag football in September. The football league began with eight teams but expanded to 10 to accommodate more players. During the winter, coed bowling and volleyball were started. The spring season, which begins Sunday,, will include deck hockey, basketball, darts, billiards and volleyball.
Anyone is eligible to play. Elste says players range from 18 to 43 years old. Sara Salmon-Cox, 30, of Shadyside has participated since the league began.
"I love playing sports, and I absolutely enjoy the league. It's been fun. It's also a great way to meet people from outside from my social circle," she said.
Salmon-Cox says one of the best things about the league is that it provides a variety of sports for people of varying athletic ability. She laughs when asked if the male athletes go easy on the women.
"We have many good female athletes; you can't credit all the athletic talent to the men."
Chip Amoe, a Pitt graduate student studying law and public policy, agreed.
"Some of the women athletes we had to cover in flag football were pretty good. But that's what I liked about the PSL. We had all ability levels playing. You had competitive and noncompetitive people thrown in the mix.
"The fact that it was coed made it better. Some male-dominated leagues take it too serious. It's not so cutthroat here."
Amoe, 28, said he had trouble finding any coed sports leagues when he moved here in 1999. He said he was thrilled that he could join the PSL as an individual and be put on a team.
"It seems like in Pittsburgh if you didn't grow up here and know of existing softball or volleyball leagues, or don't work at a place that offers coed sports, you're pretty much out of luck. And being a grad student, you feel too old to play in an intramural league," he said.
New York City native Michelle Blacksberg, 23, captain of her football, bowling and volleyball teams, joined the league to make new friends.
"Sports are a great way to meet new people. There's no pressure whatsoever. You cannot go into a bar by yourself. But with the PSL, if you're new to the area, as I was, you can sign up as an individual and be placed on a team immediately. This is one of the best ways to meet people your age."
Haliel Helfand, who was recently hired as PUMP's program manager, operates the daily activities of the league.
"The PSL was created out of a need for young people to have something to do other than 'bar crawling,' which isn't always a bad thing, but it isn't everything," she said.
Elste hopes that the league eventually serves between 7,000 and 10,000 people each year. In addition to traditional team sports, he'd like to see the PSL operate an outdoor club, with activities such as hiking, biking and whitewater rafting.
"I think it'd be great if we offered trips to other cities and we could offer classes like salsa dancing, wine or beer making and wine tasting. I'd like to also see the PSL offer social events and parties. Although we are starting in the city because it gives us access to the largest market, we eventually plan to offer leagues and activities in the suburbs. The possibilities for the PSL are enormous," he said.
Elste said the league has expanded PUMP's reach and made countless new connections for its members.
"It's amazing the number of people who have met while playing in the PSL. About a quarter of the bowling teams from this winter met while playing flag football this fall. I've been invited to join reunions for three different flag football teams this winter.
"The PSL is about more than just playing sports, it's a community."
Daniel Casciato is a free-lance writer.
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To register for the Pittsburgh Sports League's spring season, call 412-338-2133.