A Letter to Pittsburgh Thunderbirds Fans from Founders and Owners Dr. Tracy Neuendorf, Amy Neuendorf, and Founder, Owner, General Manager Andrew Gardner
In 2015, the Pittsburgh Thunderbirds played their first ever UFA game in Indianapolis, defeating the AlleyCats by a score of 28-20. Two weeks later, on April 25th, 2015, Pittsburgh would return home, playing their first ever game in front of nearly 1,000 fans at George Cupples Stadium in the Southside. The Thunderbirds would go on to win that game 30-16 over the Cincinnati Revolution.
Finishing with a 12-2 record, the inaugural season would serve as a spring board for what Professional Ultimate Frisbee could be in the city of Pittsburgh.
Since then, the Thunderbirds have played at four different stadiums, thrown 37,400 passes, scored 3,106 times, and made hundreds of thousands of memories. Fans have seen doctors, teachers, welders, financial advisors, engineers, data analysts, and physical therapists shed their day-time responsibilities and wear the Thunderbirds jersey to entertain fans with a Frisbee.
Hundreds of staff members helped bring the game day experience to life; from introducing our first-ever mascot, T-Bolt, to delivering electrifying goal calls over the PA system, to sharing the story of each game through our streaming broadcast.
As the Thunderbirds progressed into the future, it was clear that current ownership needed to expand in order to keep up with day-to-day responsibilities of owning and operating the team.
Looking ahead to the upcoming 2027 UFA Season, the Thunderbirds will no longer be owned and operated by Dr. Tracy Neuendorf, Amy Neuendorf and Andrew Gardner. However, this isn’t the end for the Thunderbirds, and a brand-new Pittsburgh ownership group will be taking over to bring Professional Frisbee back to the ‘Burgh for another season.
While we are sad to say goodbye to the fans, the players, the staff, and our partners, we also feel energized and excited for the Thunderbirds future in Pittsburgh. The memories are one thing that we can never say goodbye to, as they will last forever in our hearts.
Thank you again to everyone who helped support the Thunderbirds in the first 11 years, and here’s to hopefully 1,000 more years of Thunderbirds Frisbee in Pittsburgh.
If you have any memories you would like to share, you can e-mail them to Andrew Gardner at gardneaj44@gmail.com. We would love to hear from you all!
Let’s Go Birds!
Dr. Tracy Neuendorf, Amy Neuendorf, Andrew Gardner
