Agnes Stegmuller, a Delaware County native and graduate of Glen-Nor High School (now Interboro High School), was a trailblazer in both lacrosse and field hockey whose impact spanned decades. A multi-sport, four-letter varsity athlete at Temple University during a time when women’s collegiate athletics had little formal support, she served as team captain in multiple sports and earned repeated All-Philadelphia honors, showcasing her dominance across disciplines. As a goalkeeper, she represented the United States on the 1958 U.S. Women’s National Field Hockey Team and later took part in international tours of England, Bermuda, and Germany as a player, manager, and official.
Stegmuller was among the earliest American women to contribute at elite levels as both a competitor and an official, going on to become a pioneering lacrosse umpire for nearly five decades. She officiated national tournaments and state and intercollegiate championships during the sport’s formative years, while also serving on AIAW and national officiating committees to help standardize rules and training at the collegiate level.
A dedicated mentor, she played a key role in professionalizing women’s lacrosse officiating and supporting future generations of officials. Beyond the field, she was a passionate advocate for women’s athletics long before Title IX, helping establish scholarships and endowments for women student-athletes. Her lasting contributions were recognized with induction into the Temple University Athletics Hall of Fame (1979), Pennsylvania State Athletic Hall of Fame (1999), Delaware County Athletic Hall of Fame (1984), and the Philadelphia Chapter of the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame (2002), along with honors including the PIAA Meritorious Service Award (2004) and the US Lacrosse Lifetime Achievement Award (2019).
