Rugola hired as golf coach at alma mater Uniontown
Submitted photo
Danae Rugola is returning home.
The 2019 graduate of Uniontown Area High School was hired on May 5 at the district’s school board meeting to replace veteran coach Aaron Scott, who had resigned from his position to be there for his daughter during her senior year of high school. Although Scott didn’t coach Rugola her entire time at Uniontown, he was there at least two years.
“He was my coach for two or three years,” Rugola said. “I believe it was my sophomore and junior seasons. His daughter runs cross country, which makes it difficult for him to get to her meets as the golf coach.
“We are going to take a day to go to the different junior high schools in the district to see if we can get some kids to join the team. We want to get more kids on the team.”
Scott will be missed but the program is in good hands with the former Red Raider, who was a three-time state place winner that finished sixth as a sophomore, 10th as a junior and was runner-up her senior campaign.
In addition to her performances at the state tournament, Rugola became the first girl to win the Fayette County Coaches Association (FCCA) golf championship as a sophomore, and tied Greg Franko Jr. for the lowest score posted in school history.
Rugola played collegiately at Youngstown State University, where she has the record of lowest-scoring round for a freshman with a 69. Rugola played five years for the Penguins.
Despite a highly successful career in high school and at the collegiate level, Rugola didn’t believe she would be coaching her high school alma mater.
“I wanted to be the coach for Uniontown, so it was always in my head, but to be honest, no, I didn’t think it would happen,” Rugola said. “Once I started job searching and finding my career, I was worried that it wasn’t going to happen. I was going to start at New Directions, then the Friday before, I received a call from Peters Township that a long-term substitute position for physical education had opened up. A position at Uniontown had also opened up, so I decided to take it. It was a hard decision, but my heart kept telling me, ‘Uniontown,'”
Rugola began teaching physical education to elementary students at Franklin, Lafayette and Menallen a few weeks into the 2024-25 school year.
“I go to the three schools and switch daily,” Rugola said. “I always wanted to be in elementary education. I feel like I can come up with cute activities that the little ones would enjoy. The older students would just look at me funny. I am hoping, especially with me being at the elementary schools, to build interest in golf across the whole community and have the kids start from an early age.”
Rugola hasn’t met any of the players, but her fianc茅’s brother was on the team last season. She has attended some matches, and will get to know the players over the course of the summer before the season starts in early August.
“Throughout the summer, and once I get my first year under my belt, I am going to pick a day or two of the week for an optional practice if the kids want to come out and hit a few balls,” Rugola said. “I want to give them some pointers so they can be more comfortable with their game.
“Golf is a sport where you really need to do something to keep yourself ready for competition. If I took the winter off during my playing career, my swing would feel so weird.”
Although it never really crossed her mind, Rugola is the first female golf coach in program history. Uniontown only features a boys team, but the girls can play and compete in individual girl tournaments during the postseason. Rugola played with the boys in her high school career, but would be for a girls team.
“I would be all in favor of a girls team at Uniontown,” Rugola said. “I never even thought of me being the first girls coach in program history. When you look around the area, there are not as many golf coaches who are girls, so I am pretty excited about that. One year in high school, we had more girls on the team than boys. I am super excited to start.”