Pittsburgh’s Northside Sandlot Football

Oct 28, 2024 219

BY: Eugene Gino Mahofski

Art Rooney’s name should ring a bell. He was the man who brought sandlot football to Pittsburgh’s Northside and eventually transformed a semi-professional team into the Pittsburgh Steelers dynasty. Beginning with the Hope Harvey football team in the 1920s, Rooney was a player-coach, serving as quarterback while his brothers Dan and Jim played alongside him. Another brother, Vince, handled the duties of water boy.

The team would change into their homemade uniforms in the N.S. Hope Ward Firehouse. Art’s friend, Dr. Walter Harvey, tended to injured players free of charge. Between the Pittsburgh Pirates professional football team and the Steelers, there was the Rooney Reds squad in the 1930s. My father, John; my uncle, Walt Serbiski; and members of ISDA’s Northside Amity Lodge — Sam Ross, Patsy Massacci, and Jim Rubino — played on that championship team. The Steelers emerged in the 1940s, but Northside sandlot football continued to thrive.

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SOURCE: https://orderisda.org

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