Harris County-Houston Sports Authority Insider
World Transplant Games give participants a shot to honor donors
Patti Smith
Jul 6, 2018, 5:55 am
Amy Frackowiak is a big part of the transplant games. Twitter.com
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The first time she stepped onto the basketball court as an adult on the national stage, Amy Frackowiak played almost the entire game.
OK. So it was half court basketball, but there are two other things worth noting about her debut.
First, the she was playing for Team Texas, a team of transplant recipients. Second, she was barely a year removed her surgery.
If she’d had it her way, Frackowiak would have debuted on the world stage at the World Transplant Games a year earlier – and just two months removed from that surgery. But doctors said no.
“So I set my eyes on the U.S. games and I was hooked,’’ said the 37-year-old who works with potential kidney transplant patients at St. Luke’s Hospital.
The manager of Team Texas since 2014, Frackowiak has now competed in four U.S. games and two World Transplant Games.
And you can count her as one of those cheering last week when it was announced Houston was chosen to host the 2021 World Transplant Games. It will mark the first time in 41 years the event has been played in America.
“It’s going to mean a lot to the recipients and donors,’’ she said. “A lot of patients don’t travel (overseas) because of the cost and not wanting to go that far.
“For them to be able to compete here, it’s going to be an amazing experience.”
Houston held the U.S. only event – the Transplant Games of America -- in 2014, which had the largest attendance in history at the time with 14 sports and 2,523 participants, including 800 athletes from Texas.
Houston could host another record-setter in 2021. The last time the event was in America was 1980, when New York hosted the third World Transplant Games.
The World Transplant Games is an annual event with Winter Games in even-numbered years and Summer Games in odd-numbered years. The U.S. event, which is separate from the World Transplant Games, is held every two years.
Over the years, Frackowiak has competed in volleyball, basketball and track and field.
Back in 2009, she was completely healed two weeks after surgery and ready to fly to Sydney, Australia for the ’09 Games. “I hit the ground running and wasn’t looking back,’’ she said. But that’s when the doctors told her she would have to wait.
Every time she competes, she’s like any other athlete – anxious and excited. “Once I’m there,’’ she said, “it’s pure adrenaline.’’
The Games are filled with stories like hers. They highlight the amazing things transplant patients – and now also their donors – can do after surgeries. They also highlight the need for donors.
According to statistics, one organ donor can save eight lives. One organ, eye and tissue donor can safe 50 lives.
When Houston hosted the 2014 U.S. event, Texas had about 4 million people on the donor registry. After the event and with the help of a campaign by the Texas Department of Safety to sign up drivers as donors when they renewed their licenses, pushed the number well past 8 million.
This year’s Transplant Games of America will be held in Salt Lake City in August and the 2019 World Transplant Games will be in Newcastle, Gateshead, UK.
Competitors at the 2021 WTG will compete at venues around the city, including Memorial Park and the University of Houston. And, even those used to their national or the European event will take a deep breath.
“The World Transplant Games,’’ Frackowiak said, “is on a different level.’’
But the focus? It will be the same.
“To compete and honor their donor,’’ she said, “and prove that donation works.”
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No. 1 seed Houston romps past SIU Edwardsville in NCAA Tournament opener
Mar 21, 2025, 1:10 pm
Spring has officially sprung and the Astros are about to head home from spring training, meaning the regular season is almost here. Throw in the ongoing NCAA Tournament and late-March Houston weather, and this is one of the best times of the year. There is more uncertainty about the quality of the Astros heading into a season then there has been in nearly a decade, which frankly makes for an even more fun season if the most critical questions get positive answers. Let’s delve into a few issues.
Is it the Cam-shaft if the Grapefruit League phenom isn’t in the Astros’ lineup opening day? No it isn’t, but there really is no downside to giving Cam Smith a shot in right field right out of the gate. The hype has gone over the top given Smith’s spring consists of fewer than 40 at bats with most of them coming against minor league caliber pitchers. Nevertheless, the 22-year-old has looked the part of a big leaguer. If it’s because he’s ready to be one now it’s just wasting time of his career keeping him in the minors. The raw talent is irrefutable. If Smith gets the shot and is overmatched by big league pitching, it’s not catastrophic to have to send him down for some more seasoning. Basically learning to play right field on the fly at the big league level would be an additional challenge. But it’s not as if the Astros would be benching a good player to see what Smith can do.
Manager Joe Espada by nature and by de facto job requirement has to present a positive front. Espada has talked of Chas McCormick making good contact and hitting balls hard. Blah, blah, blah. Three singles and one double in 28 at bats doesn’t make anyone tingly with excitement. Again, spring training statistics should be taken with buckets full of grains of salt, but last spring McCormick hit .366 with an .865 OPS. Then, when the games started counting, his season was pretty relentlessly atrocious. Paraphrasing myself from one of our Stone Cold ‘Stros podcasts this week: in 2022 Chas was a Champ. 2023 was the year of the Chas Chomp. In 2024 Chas was a Chump. You know who hit .308 with a .919 OPS during spring training 2024? Jose Abreu. We heard about his exit velocities and bat speed (and of course the back of his baseball card). Blah, blah, blah. Mauricio Dubon had a gaudy .471 average last spring. Then the real games began. Alex Bregman sizzled in Florida, then started the regular season in a six-week offensive coma. I have covered repeatedly how a very high percentage of bonafide star-level players are in the majors at 22. They don’t all crush it from day one. They absolutely, positively cannot crush it until given a shot.
So far, so bad?
The Jose Altuve left fielder experiment has not gone well so far. Some of it is very problematic, some of it much less so. Altuve botching two routine catches this week may have induced wincing and/or groaning, but there is going to be a learning curve. As a second baseman Altuve never had to worry about trying to catch a ball with his glove in the air, make a quick transfer, and throw the ball a distance longer than from second base to first base. That he rushed a couple times and dropped the fly ball may actually be a good thing because it should reinforce that while you want the catch and throw to be one fluid action, the first component must be secured first. The advice to Little Leaguers may be worth noting too: “Two hands!” Altuve’s weak arm is indisputable and an inescapable problem as long as he is out there, but it is highly doubtful that catching routine fly balls remains an adventure. If it does, aborting Altuve’s outfield becomes near mandatory. All this drives home how substantially the Astros see Altuve’s defensive erosion at second base (as backed up by all the advanced metrics). It’s not as if Altuve was removed from the position at which he’ll be recognized as a Hall of Famer because a Dubon/Brendan Rodgers/Luis Guillorme second base option is exciting. Ideally, 2023 first round draft pick Brice Matthews becomes the Astros’ future regular at second. But Matthews is not close to ready. Basically, would you/they prefer Altuve in left with anybody else playing second, or Altuve back at second with Smith and Jake Meyers manning two outfield spots with some combo of McCormick, Ben Gamel, and Zach Dezenzo in the third. Obviously the Astros see the former as better. For now at least.
Arms race
If the Astros are to win the American League West for the eighth time in nine years (eight straight full-schedule seasons) the starting pitching will almost certainly be the biggest reason. With the Yankees losing Gerrit Cole for the entire season and 2024 AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil for at least half the season, there isn’t one American League rotation that definitely rates above the Astros. The Mariners’ rotation probably rates better, maybe the Royals’. Framber Valdez makes his fourth (and last?) consecutive Astros’ opening day start Thursday. The New York Mets will go with converted former Yankees’ reliever Clay Holmes who will make his first start since 2018. Play ball!
Opening Day is almost here! Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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