Who is Team Pittsburgh?

We are the transplant recipient athletes, donor family members, living donors, families, friends, health care professionals, and spectators from Western Pennsylvania & Northern West Virginia communities who will proudly represent this region at the 2010 U.S. Transplant Games.

We may be your family member, friend, neighbor, or co-worker.  We have survived a life-threatening illness or tragedy with high hopes to help others by raising national awareness of both the successes of transplantation and the desperate need for life-saving organ donors through our participation in the upcoming U.S. Transplant Games.  We are committed to this cause in order to help those who await their “gift of life”.  

What are "The Games?"

The U.S. Transplant Games is a four-day athletic competition among recipients of all organ and bone marrow transplants held every two years at sites all over the continental U.S.  The Games consist of 12 sports and 41 events.

As much as this very special event is an athletic competition that calls attention to the success of organ and bone marrow transplantation, it is also an incredible celebration of life among recipients, their families and friends.  Transplant recipients who do not physically qualify to compete are encouraged to join the local team and attend the Games as spectators so they can be a part of this gathering of recipients.  

The purposes of the U.S. Transplant Games are:

• To demonstrate to our nation's public the collective and individual successes of the life-restoring therapy of organ and bone marrow transplantation

• To use the mass media to promote the success of organ donation and transplantation and to call attention to the dire need for organ donation through events and support activities before, during, and after the event

• To contribute to the successful rehabilitation of our nation's transplant patient community

To involve the entire transplant community--including it's physicians, health care professionals, patients, donor families and related organizations--in a worldwide collaborative effort for the benefit of organ donation awareness.

History of the Games

          But in 1982, a group of brave and determined transplant athlete pioneers gathered in Texas for the first regional U.S. Transplant Games and began changing the way people thought about transplant patients.  The two-day athletic competition for transplant recipients served to dramatically demonstrate the life-restoring success of transplantation.  Though small in scope, the Texas Games paved the way for future events. The next regional U.S. Transplant Games were held in Minnesota in 1988, with 70 participants hailing primarily from the Midwest.

          In 1990, the National Kidney Foundation took on the management and organization of the U.S. Transplant Games, along with the event's co-founder Sandoz Pharmaceuticals Corporation, now Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation.  Held in Indianapolis that year, the first-ever national event drew a record 400 transplant athletes from all over the country.

          In addition to the rehabilitative benefits of this athletic competition, the U.S. Transplant Games provided a unique opportunity for transplant recipients to gather and share experiences, kindle friendships and celebrate their "ultimate second chance" at life while paying tribute to those who make it all possible - the donor families.

         The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) organized this biennial Olympic-style event for almost 20 years, which now includes 12 different sports competitions, educational symposia for transplant professionals and special programming for donor families.  The Games have been held in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Columbus and Orlando, growing significantly each time.  In 1990, the games consisted of only 400 athletes and 600 supporters and just 14 years later, the 2008 U.S. Transplant Games consisted of 7,000 athletes and an undocumented number of supporters.

          The first-ever U.S. Winter Transplant Games, held in February 1995 in Aspen, Colorado, gave transplant athletes new challenges and helped to substantially promote the tremendous success of organ transplantation.  The U.S. Winter Transplant Games have since been held in various cities across America, including Mammoth Lakes, California and Salt Lake City.  Participants competed in a variety of alpine and nordic skiing events.