Steinberg lives vicariously through lady Rugger pupils

When Pete Steinberg first came to America in 1994, he thought he would play rugby like he did in his native England.

Steinberg came to Penn State to earn a master's degree in geology and perhaps play rugby for Penn State. Unfortunately, he quickly learned graduate students were ineligible to compete.

He started as an assistant coach for the men's team shortly after arriving at Penn State in the spring of 1994. Charles Smith, head of the Accounting Department at Penn State, was then the coach of the women's rugby team and took Steinberg on to coach his backs.

Smith had played rugby for many years in his native South Africa and he found Steinberg had the tools to become a good coach.

"Pete has the ability to teach and coach the modern rugby game," Smith said. "Plus, he is also a natural rugby player."

When Smith decided to retire from coaching in 1995, Steinberg became the new head coach of the women's team. Two years later, in 1997, Steinberg had already coached the team to a national championship.

Steinberg, who grew up in Cambridge, said his years of rugby experience helped him relate to players as a coach. He was an all-star scrumhalf in his early years and when he grew he switched to fullback. Soon he entered the University of Manchester and played for the school's team.

"Because Pete has played at an international level he can teach us more skills," Penn State winger Sarah Thorn said.

Even though he played semi-pro rugby for Wakefield, a club team in England, after graduation he was unsure of his future as a rugby player in England.

"I came to the realization that I would never be a top-level player, but I played a good standard," Steinberg said. "I had to work hard to become a good player and that helped me be a good coach."

In addition to his Penn State coaching duties, Steinberg finds the time to be head coach of the U.S. National Under-23 Women's team and assistant coach the Women's National Sevens team.

For most weekends during the summer, Steinberg is flying around the country to run developmental camps for the Under-23 players. He also runs two one-week camps for those players.

Even though Steinberg never got a chance to play rugby for Penn State, he never left the University to play somewhere else and has been the head coach for three years. He said he enjoys his many coaching responsibilities and is committed to building further championships for women's rugby.

"In the old days we used to play on an ad hoc level without coaches," Smith said. "Now we need coaches with technical skill. Pete is one of those coaches."