World Heart Games
Demorest, Georgia
Piedmont University, 1021 Central Avenue, Demorest, 30535, GA, United StatesFri 20th June 2025 - Sat 21st June 2025
Starting at 08:00
Organiser's Description
Join us for the 2025 World Heart Games on the beautiful campus of Piedmont University & Tallulah Falls School in Habersham County, Georgia on June 20-21, 2025. As an Olympic-style event, the World Heart Games provide two days of safe, fun and relational competition for those who have experienced a cardiopulmonary event or live with risk factors.
These team-based and individual events will foster a competitive spirit and a healthy lifestyle. All skill levels are welcomed to participate and can do so as a team or as an individual. Dont have a team? Individuals can get paired for team-based events after registering. Athletes can compete in a wide variety of challenging, yet safe activities. These provide a monitored and competitive way for the participants to be active in a way that they are physically comfortable.
WHAT ARE THE WHG, AND HOW DO PARTICIPANTS BENEFIT?
Its an Olympic-style event that provides two days of safe, fun and relational competition for those who have
experienced a cardiopulmonary event or live with risk factors. Specifically, the WHG seek to:
Promote cardiovascular fitness and cardiac rehabilitation
Provide safe and fun sports competition for cardiac patients
Improve camaraderie and teamwork among rehab professionals and patients
Provide research opportunities
WHG is really a chance for participants to reclaim the joy of sports. Participants come highly motivated and
excited for the chance to compete and connect with others from around the world. These cardiac athletes
prepare for the games weeks and months in advance through physical training and skill development.
WHAT EVENTS WILL BE OFFERED IN 2025?
WHG offers many different sporting events that can be performed safely in a manner consistent with each
participants health status, fitness, and skills. All competitors must secure approval from their physician to
participate. They can participate individually or form teams (e.g., those from a given cardiac rehabilitation facility).
The team experience adds a significant social dimension to preparations and further enables participants to
increase confidence to safely be physically active and develop camaraderie with others through the joy of
competition. Individuals can register for several different endurance events, each of which requires the competitor to predict
their finish time within submaximal performance limits familiar to them. The individual events for 2025 include:
Basketball Shooting (Men & Women), Bowling, Disc Golf, Game of Knowledge, Golf Putting, Horseshoes,
Prediction Walk, Jog, Airdyne Bike, Nustep, Row and Swim, Racquetball, Soccer Shoot (Men & Women), Softball
Throw (Men & Women), Table Tennis, and Tennis Singles. Team-based events are: Bean Bag Toss/Cornhole, Golf (2-person scramble), Pickleball (Doubles), Tennis (Doubles), and Volleyball. WHG is safe and well supported with medical personnel and equipment in key areas and qualified volunteers who
supervise events throughout the venue.
ARE ANY SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE TO HELP OFFSET THE COST?
Yes, we offer AACVPR Scholarships. Five $1,000 scholarships are available to teams of at least two athletes from
programs in the United States. Applicants will be reviewed by an AACVPR Committee based on criteria listed on
the application. You can find more details at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RNyoyk2NtkUBr1vS8OvT0P74K0YytWR3/edit. [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RNyoyk2NtkUBr1vS8OvT0P74K0YytWR3/edit.]
WHAT MESSAGE DOES WHG CONVEY TO THE PUBLIC?
Through WHG, ACSM seeks to encourage understanding among physicians, patients, and communities about
these major health concerns:
Patient participation in cardiac rehabilitation in the U.S. is remarkably low, despite strong evidence that
the physical training component alone reduces cardiovascular mortality for those with coronary disease;
CVD continues to be a leading cause of death worldwide, underscoring the continuing need for more
definitive prevention and treatment strategies;
Every person, with or without diagnosed CVD, can reduce their long-term risk by making habitual physical
activity part of their lives; and
Physicians, patients, families, and communities should all understand the benefits of cardiac
rehabilitation, a progressive establishment of regular physical activity and healthy lifestyle behaviors.
The takeaway, of course, is that a cardiac condition need not interfere with an active, socially independent life.
DOES ACSM COLLABORATE WITH ANY OTHER ORGANIZATIONS ON THE WHG INITIATIVE?
ACSM partners with AACVPR [https://www.aacvpr.org/] and Georgia Heart Institute [https://www.nghs.com/heart] for valuable financial and logistical support.
AACVPR [https://www.aacvpr.org/], a society of health professionals in the field of cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation, recognizes that
many of the cardiac athletes at WHG either have or currently are participating in cardiac rehabilitation, which is
why they offer scholarships to help defray costs for team participation.
Georgia Heart Institute [https://www.nghs.com/heart] is the comprehensive, multi-disciplinary heart and vascular program of Northeast Georgia
Health System (NGHS). With personalized care provided for the complete spectrum of cardiovascular conditions,
Georgia Heart Institute is saving and improving lives for generations.
THANK YOU TO THE WHG PLANNING COMMITTEE:
A project the magnitude of the World Heart Games would not be possible without a group of dedicated
professionals serving on the organizing committee. Several of them have been on the committee and actively
involved since the inception of the games. Join me in thanking the organizing committee:
F. Stuart Sanders, M.D., FACSM, FACP, MAACVPR, Chair
Thomas A. Draper, MBA, MAACVPR
Karen Lui, MS, MAACVPR
Katie Feltman, Interim CEO, ACSM
Carl N. King, Ed.D., MAACVPR
Robert Nichols, Co-Coordinator
Wyatt Nicholson, MS, ACSM-CEP, Co-Coordinator
John P. Porcari, Ph.D., FACSM, MAACVPR
Walt Thompson, Ph.D., FACSM, FAACVPR, FCEPA
Eric Utterback, ACSM
With special thanks to The Mended Hearts, Inc
These team-based and individual events will foster a competitive spirit and a healthy lifestyle. All skill levels are welcomed to participate and can do so as a team or as an individual. Dont have a team? Individuals can get paired for team-based events after registering. Athletes can compete in a wide variety of challenging, yet safe activities. These provide a monitored and competitive way for the participants to be active in a way that they are physically comfortable.
WHAT ARE THE WHG, AND HOW DO PARTICIPANTS BENEFIT?
Its an Olympic-style event that provides two days of safe, fun and relational competition for those who have
experienced a cardiopulmonary event or live with risk factors. Specifically, the WHG seek to:
Promote cardiovascular fitness and cardiac rehabilitation
Provide safe and fun sports competition for cardiac patients
Improve camaraderie and teamwork among rehab professionals and patients
Provide research opportunities
WHG is really a chance for participants to reclaim the joy of sports. Participants come highly motivated and
excited for the chance to compete and connect with others from around the world. These cardiac athletes
prepare for the games weeks and months in advance through physical training and skill development.
WHAT EVENTS WILL BE OFFERED IN 2025?
WHG offers many different sporting events that can be performed safely in a manner consistent with each
participants health status, fitness, and skills. All competitors must secure approval from their physician to
participate. They can participate individually or form teams (e.g., those from a given cardiac rehabilitation facility).
The team experience adds a significant social dimension to preparations and further enables participants to
increase confidence to safely be physically active and develop camaraderie with others through the joy of
competition. Individuals can register for several different endurance events, each of which requires the competitor to predict
their finish time within submaximal performance limits familiar to them. The individual events for 2025 include:
Basketball Shooting (Men & Women), Bowling, Disc Golf, Game of Knowledge, Golf Putting, Horseshoes,
Prediction Walk, Jog, Airdyne Bike, Nustep, Row and Swim, Racquetball, Soccer Shoot (Men & Women), Softball
Throw (Men & Women), Table Tennis, and Tennis Singles. Team-based events are: Bean Bag Toss/Cornhole, Golf (2-person scramble), Pickleball (Doubles), Tennis (Doubles), and Volleyball. WHG is safe and well supported with medical personnel and equipment in key areas and qualified volunteers who
supervise events throughout the venue.
ARE ANY SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE TO HELP OFFSET THE COST?
Yes, we offer AACVPR Scholarships. Five $1,000 scholarships are available to teams of at least two athletes from
programs in the United States. Applicants will be reviewed by an AACVPR Committee based on criteria listed on
the application. You can find more details at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RNyoyk2NtkUBr1vS8OvT0P74K0YytWR3/edit. [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RNyoyk2NtkUBr1vS8OvT0P74K0YytWR3/edit.]
WHAT MESSAGE DOES WHG CONVEY TO THE PUBLIC?
Through WHG, ACSM seeks to encourage understanding among physicians, patients, and communities about
these major health concerns:
Patient participation in cardiac rehabilitation in the U.S. is remarkably low, despite strong evidence that
the physical training component alone reduces cardiovascular mortality for those with coronary disease;
CVD continues to be a leading cause of death worldwide, underscoring the continuing need for more
definitive prevention and treatment strategies;
Every person, with or without diagnosed CVD, can reduce their long-term risk by making habitual physical
activity part of their lives; and
Physicians, patients, families, and communities should all understand the benefits of cardiac
rehabilitation, a progressive establishment of regular physical activity and healthy lifestyle behaviors.
The takeaway, of course, is that a cardiac condition need not interfere with an active, socially independent life.
DOES ACSM COLLABORATE WITH ANY OTHER ORGANIZATIONS ON THE WHG INITIATIVE?
ACSM partners with AACVPR [https://www.aacvpr.org/] and Georgia Heart Institute [https://www.nghs.com/heart] for valuable financial and logistical support.
AACVPR [https://www.aacvpr.org/], a society of health professionals in the field of cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation, recognizes that
many of the cardiac athletes at WHG either have or currently are participating in cardiac rehabilitation, which is
why they offer scholarships to help defray costs for team participation.
Georgia Heart Institute [https://www.nghs.com/heart] is the comprehensive, multi-disciplinary heart and vascular program of Northeast Georgia
Health System (NGHS). With personalized care provided for the complete spectrum of cardiovascular conditions,
Georgia Heart Institute is saving and improving lives for generations.
THANK YOU TO THE WHG PLANNING COMMITTEE:
A project the magnitude of the World Heart Games would not be possible without a group of dedicated
professionals serving on the organizing committee. Several of them have been on the committee and actively
involved since the inception of the games. Join me in thanking the organizing committee:
F. Stuart Sanders, M.D., FACSM, FACP, MAACVPR, Chair
Thomas A. Draper, MBA, MAACVPR
Karen Lui, MS, MAACVPR
Katie Feltman, Interim CEO, ACSM
Carl N. King, Ed.D., MAACVPR
Robert Nichols, Co-Coordinator
Wyatt Nicholson, MS, ACSM-CEP, Co-Coordinator
John P. Porcari, Ph.D., FACSM, MAACVPR
Walt Thompson, Ph.D., FACSM, FAACVPR, FCEPA
Eric Utterback, ACSM
With special thanks to The Mended Hearts, Inc
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