Tour: UPMC Sports Performance Complex
Duration: One hour
Overview
The UPMC Sports Performance Complex is home to the world-renowned UPMC Center for Sports Medicine as well as the state-of-the-art indoor and outdoor training facilities of the Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the University of Pittsburgh Panthers football teams. The $40 million complex is sprawled across a half-mile stretch of land along the Monongahela River where a shuttered steel mill once stood. Completed in 2000, the complex is an exciting part of Pittsburgh’s South Side riverfront revitalization.
What you’ll see:
UPMC Center for Sports Medicine
A comprehensive clinical and research center that is a one-stop shop for professional, collegiate, high school and recreational athletes, and people who are not athletes. Led by world-famous orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Freddie Fu, nearly every inch of the 40,000 –square-foot building’s walls are covered with autographed photos, uniforms and items from star athletes who’ve visited the center. UPMC is the official sports medicine provider for the World-Champion Steelers and Pittsburgh Penguins, as well as numerous local universities and high schools and other organizations.
Clinical evaluation and treatment area
Staffed by the region’s largest team of specialized physicians, surgeons and athletic trainers, the clinic includes on-site MRI for instant diagnoses by doctors to review with patients.
Outpatient physical rehabilitation area.
Staffed by the region’s largest team of specialized physical therapists to address any type of musculoskeletal injury, the rehab area includes a “functional gym” for on-the-spot assessment specific real-life tasks and athletic moves; and a hydrotherapy pool.
ImPACT™ (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing), the world’s first and most widely used computerized concussion evaluation system, developed by doctors at the UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program, the first research and clinical program of its kind in the world.
Indoor Practice/Training Facility
The 125,000-square-foot building houses a full-size FieldTurf® football practice field surrounded by a running track and a separate training/conditioning area used by the Steelers and Panthers as well as individual athletes working with the UPMC Sports Performance Program staff.
Steelers and Panthers Building
The 100,000-square-foot indoor headquarters for the Steelers and Panthers is split in half, equally divided for both teams and kept separately due to national athletic rules. Inside are rooms for coaching, practice and game film reviewing, athletic training, weight training and conditioning, team meetings and relaxing, and a cafeteria serving healthy meals for players and staff. Outside are four side-by-side 80-foot-long practice football fields made of natural grass. A must-stop on this tour is the Rooney Library, where the Steelers’ unprecedented six Super Bowl Trophies are on display.
