Arts & Culture

Pittsburgh Passion Players Picked For Top-Tier All-American Championship Team

90.5 WESA | By Katie Blackley

Published July 21, 2017 at 4:36 PM EDT

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Pittsburgh Passion wide receiver Lisa Horton catches a football during a practice at Highmark Stadium on Friday, July 21, 2017. Five Pittsburgh players were chosen for the Women's Football Alliance All-American Team.

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Chelsea Zahn (right), defensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Passion, practices with a member of the Derby City Dynamites, the women's football league in Kentucky on Friday, July 21, 2017.

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Defensive end Kim Zubovic smiles as she listens to Pittsburgh Passion coaches ahead of the All-American team game to be played on Saturday, July 22, 2017. This is the second year the city has hosted the event.

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Pittsburgh Passion linebacker Tia Montgomery practices her reaction times at a practice at Highmark Stadium on Friday, July 21, 2017.

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The Women's Football Alliance All-American National team offensive lines practices under the direction of Pittsburgh Passion offensive line coach Adam Santoro on Friday, July 21, 2017.

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Defensive line Kaitlain Niedermeyer prepares for practice after warmups at Highmark Stadium. Niedermeyer is originally from Brentwood, Pa. and has been playing for the Pittsburgh Passion for eight seasons.

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Wide receiver Lisa Horton takes off during a catching practice with other players on Friday, July 21, 2017. Horton and four of her Pittsburgh Passion teammates were chosen to participate in the Women's Football Alliance All-American team.

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Linebacker Tia Montgomery, originally of Homewood, tackles a player during practice for Saturday's All-American game. It's Montgomery's 11th season playing for the Pittsburgh Passion.

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Five local football players have been chosen for the All-American National Team, which is playing against the American Team this weekend as part of the Women’s Football Alliance Championship.

All the players are members of the Pittsburgh Passion football team, which is celebrating 15 years as a league. The All-American players were voted on as the best of the WFA’s 65 teams.

“It just shows that league-wide, Pittsburgh Passion is able to put a good product on the field, good athletes,” said Passion offensive coordinator Adam Santoro.

The Pittsburgh Passion have hosted the Women's Football Alliance Championship weekend twice in a row, but this is the first time they've played the tournament at Highmark Stadium on Pittsburgh's South Side.

In addition to the All-American game, teams across the country are competing for the WBowl Championship, which Pittsburgh has hosted twice in a row.

“It’s a great opportunity for Pittsburgh,” Santoro said. “We get to show off the city, a city that all of us that live here already know and love.”

From the Passion team are defensive end Kim Zubovic, wide receiver Lisa Horton, defensive tackle Chelsea Zahn, linebacker Tia Montgomery and defensive line Kaitlain Neidermeyer.