The Transplant Games was started back in 1990. The Transplant Games is a four day athletic competition among transplant recipients. The aims of the games are to (from National's website):
- To demonstrate to the public the collective and individual successes of the life-restoring therapy of organ transplantation
- To use the mass media to promote the success of organ donation and transplantation and to call attention to the need for organ donation through events and support activity before, during, and after the event
- To contribute to the successful rehabilitation of the nation's transplant patient community
- To involve the entire transplant community--including physicians, allied professionals, patients, donor families and related organizations--in a collaborative effort for the benefit of organ donation
- To provide an opportunity for these goals to be achieved locally by NKF Affiliates and other participating organizations.
The games occur once every two years. The upcoming games will be held in Pittsburg Pennsylvania from July 11th-July 16th. Each affiliate builds a team that competes against each other. The National Kidney Foundation of N.Ca & N.Nv team's name is Team Northern California (Team NorCal). The official website of TeamNorCal is
www.teamnorcal.org. Any one interested in participating in the games should contact co-team managers Cathy Olmo (
colmo@ctdn.org) or Belinda Sanchez (
brcsullivan@sbcglobal.net).
2006 U.S. Transplant Games
Photos from the 2006 U.S. Transplant Games in Louisville, Kentucky
(click to enlarge)
For Team NorCal-Neva highlights (including more photos),
click here
For the official site of 2006 U.S. Transplant Games,
click here.
2005 World Transplant Games
Click here to read about the 2005 World Transplant Games!
2004 U.S. Transplant Games
More than 8,000 people attended the 2004 Transplant Games to help celebrate the wonderful gift of life. It was truly an amazing four days of competition, cheers, tears, and inspiration.
The games are held every two years for recipients of life-saving organ transplants (doctor's approval required). Transplant patients compete in athletic events, make new friends and share common experiences.
Team Northern California, which is made up 30 athletes from around the Bay Area, was awarded the coveted trophy cup for winning the most amounts of medals. Mark Graves is the Team Manager and he did a superb job of not only managing the team, but also helped to motivate and inspire them.
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