The inaugural Women and Girls Summit will take place September 24 at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center in Philadelphia, bringing a diverse group of players, coaches, leaders and parents together from around the country.
The Summit will include three workshops led by experts Dr. Jamie Zuckerman, Dr. Matt Munich and Marci Sier, and will address the themes of the impact of social media on athletes, the role of familial support and using sport to help foster personal growth for teens. The workshops will lead off the Learning portion of the afternoon from 1pm. Learn more about the workshops and presenters below.
Anyone wanting to take part in the workshops can register here.
Dr. Jaime Zuckerman: Addressing the Impact of Social Media on Sport Engagement and Participation
Dr. Jaime Zuckerman is a Philadelphia based licensed clinical psychologist in private practice. She specializes in the treatment of anxiety, depression, stress management, and is a nationally known expert, and relationship coach, in the area of narcissistic abuse.
Dr. Z is a mental health contributor to various media outlets including Fox29 news, PHL17, NBC10, and CBS3 Philly. She has been featured in several publications including Huffington Post, Business Insider, Vogue, Washington Post, and is the author of Find Your Calm: A Workbook to Manage Anxiety. Her latest book, Find Good Habits: A Workbook for Daily Growth, will be released late August of 2022. Dr. Z is also the host of the “It’s Me, Dr. Z.” podcast.
Dr. Matt Munich: The Well-Attuned Entourage: Enhancing Performance, Strengthening the Family & Forging Resilience
After a junior career playing in local and national tournaments, Matt played his college squash at Cornell, where he earned such honors as the Sportsmanship Award, Most Valuable Player, and Captaincy. After college, Matt continued playing competitive squash, where he enjoyed a lengthy career at the local, state, and national levels, with highlights including 7 Rhode Island State Championships, the 2003 5.5 US National Championship, and representing the United States in the 1997 Maccabiah Games.
As a coach, Matt served as the Head Pro at the Agawam Hunt Club in Providence, RI, and then moved to coaching high school teams, serving as the Director of Squash at the Kingswood Oxford School in W. Hartford, CT, and then Head Girls’ Varsity Coach at the Penn Charter School, in Philadelphia, PA. Matt continues his service to the game by being a Nationally Certified Referee for US Squash.
In 2011, under the aegis of the Smith College School for Social Work, Matt conducted qualitative research on the experience of elite college squash players (“No Purer Joy: the Developmental, Social, and Motivational Aspects of Elite College Squash”). Combining his social work training, with its person-in-environment perspective, and his life-long interest in the psychology of sport, Matt founded Altius Performance Works to help athletes overcome hurdles to peak performance. Along the way, Matt helps the athlete’s entourage communicate better, strengthen bonds, and ensure longevity in sport by fostering a growth mindset in the athlete and the athlete’s system. His blog, “Floating & Stinging: A Sport Performance Blog” is a repository of some of the fruits of his research and tips on developing resilience on the court and off.
Marci Sier: Using Sport to Help Teens Embrace and Learn From Mistakes
Marci comes from a high-performance background as both a player and a coach. She uses her world class doubles and singles experience to knowledgeably guide, mentor, and train individuals and teams of all ages, helping them reach their potential both as athletes and as people.
Marci has been the head squash professional at The Badminton and Racquet Club in Toronto since 2008. She is also a Mental Performance Consultant who practices as a professional member of the Canadian Sport Psychology Association. Marci has been the provincial junior coach since 2015, coached at the Women’s World Team Championships 2014, and continues to coach at the top junior tournaments in the world. Marci was also the recipient of the Squash Ontario Coaching Achievement Award in 2017. Additionally, Marci is also an active coach developer and evaluator in Canada, and sits on the Squash Ontario Junior High Performance Committee, Squash Canada Coaching Committee, and Squash Canada High Performance Committee.