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1967-1968 football season
The Steelerettes began the 1967 season with Mary Ann Wolfe as captain, and Diane Battiste taking on the role of trainer/coach. The schedule at RMC was based on a trimester, which meant that students were starting in Aug, Nov, and Feb. In order that every interested girl was included in the Steelerettes selection process, tryouts were held twice. The initial round of tryouts was held immediately after football season ended in December. A second round was held in March or April and everyone, even those selected during the first round, had to tryout again. This process may have seemed a bit cumbersome, but I guess it was fair. The qualifications included (1) a general knowledge of the game. I don't know about the other years, but we had to take a written test; (2) must be a full-time student at RMJC; and, (3) must be single. No problem with numbers 1 and 3 -- they're pretty self-explanatory. Number 2, however, could be a little complicated. For instance, a girl enrolling in a one-year course at RMJC would begin classes in September, tryout for the squad in December, graduate in June and football season (the season for which she was chosen) wouldn't begin until three months after she was out of school. So, according to rule #2, a girl could find herself ineligible before she had cheered at a single game. Obviously, strict adherence to this rule was not practical. The general understanding was a girl remained eligible for one year after she had graduated.
This is the reason you might see a couple of new faces in group pictures that are taken the same year. The picture you see to the right was taken for the 1967 Robert Morris Junior College Yearbook. The picture above shows Diane Battiste and her newly chosen squad at a practice session. The "practice session" picture shows ten Steelerettes, while the "yearbook picture" contains only 8. My guess is two members of the squad had actually graduated in 1966, therefore, did not appear in the yearbook picture. In 1963 we had an unusual situation. Bonnie Laird had been a member of the 1962 group and had become engaged during the summer of '63. Her wedding was set to take place in October and that would make her ineligible according to rule #3. We held a special tryout session in August to choose her replacement. Maureen Creen was added to the squad just weeks before our first preseason game. Look closely at the 1963 pyramid picture and at the group semi-circle picture. Maureen appears on the right side of the semi-circle, but does not appear in the pyramid. In the color picture of the girls on the bench, both Maureen and Bonnie are there. Confused? Well, Maureen was selected to be Bonnie's replacement at the special tryout and began practicing immediately with us. The pyramid picture was taken at our first preseason game in August and the group picture was taken the middle of September just prior to the first regular season game. The color picture was taken sometime in between. If you're still with me, you're probably thinking "I really didn't need to know that". And, you are right. I just wanted to emphasize the confusing selection process.
As in previous years, the Steelers played in charity basketball games against Duquesne University during the off-season and the Steelerettes provided half-time entertainment. The Steelers in this picture are, from left to right, Paul Martha, defensive halfback; Dick Hoak, offensive halfback; Jim Butler, offensive halfback; Gene Breen, linebacker; Jim Bradshaw, defensive back; and Roy Jefferson, flanker. Beginning with the front row, the Steelerettes from left to right are Patti Tanner, Jan Smyth, Mary Ann Wolfe (captain), and Lynn Gran. Second row, left to right are Judy Hemma, Bonnie Botti, and Lynn Lucas.
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1967 Wins/Losses/Ties (4-9-1) Date Opp Final Sun 09/17 Chi W 41-13 Sun 09/24 StL L 14-28 Sun 10/01 @Phil L 24-34 Sat 10/07 @Cle L 10-21 Sun 10/15 NYG L 24-27 Sun 10/22 Dal L 21-24 Sun 10/29 NO W 14-10 Sun 11/05 Cle L 14-34 Sun 11/12 @StL T 14-14 Sun 11/19 @NYG L 20-28 Sun 11/26 Minn L 27-41 Sun 12/03 @Det W 24-14 Sun 12/10 Wash L 10-15 Sun 12/17 @GB W 24-17
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Last updated 14.11.2006
