The inaugural Women and Girls Summit will take place September 24 at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center in Philadelphia, bringing together a diverse group of players, coaches, leaders and parents from across the country.
The Summit will include three workshops led by experts Dr Jamie Zuckerman, Dr Matt Munich and Marci Sier, and will address the topics of the impact of social media on athletes, the role of family support and the use of sport to foster growth personal of adolescents. The workshops will begin the Learning part of the afternoon from 1 p.m. Learn more about the workshops and presenters below.
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 recognized expert and relationship coach in the area of narcissistic abuse.
Dr. Z is a mental health contributor for various media 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. His latest book, Find Good Habits: A Workbook for Daily Growth, will be released in late August 2022.Dr. Z is also the host of “It’s Me, Dr. Z.” podcast.
Learn more about Dr. Z here.
Dr. Matt Munich: The Well-Tuned Surroundings: Improving Performance, Strengthening Family, and Building Resilience
After a junior career playing in local and national tournaments, Matt played college squash at Cornell, where he won accolades such as Sportsmanship, Most Valuable Player and Captain’s. After college, Matt continued to play competitive squash where he enjoyed a long career at the local, state and national level with highlights including 7 Rhode Island State Championships, the US National Championship 5 .5 in 2003 and US representation in the 1997 Maccabiah Games.
As a coach, Matt was Head Pro at Agawam Hunt Club in Providence, RI, then moved on to coaching high school teams, as Director of Squash at Kingswood Oxford School in W. Hartford, CT , then Head Girls’ Varsity Coach at Penn Charter School, Philadelphia, PA. Matt continues to serve the game by being a Nationally Certified Umpire for USA 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 background in social work, his person-in-his-world perspective, and his lifelong interest in sports psychology, Matt founded Altius Performance Works to help athletes overcome obstacles to achieve peak performance. Along the way, Matt helps the athlete’s entourage better communicate, strengthen bonds, and ensure longevity in sport by fostering a growth mindset in the athlete and the athlete system. . His blog, “Floating & Stinging: A Sport Performance Blog” is a repository of some of the fruits of his research and advice on building resilience on and off the field.
Marc Sier: Using sport to help adolescents accept and learn from their mistakes
Marci comes from a high level environment as a player and a coach. She uses her world-class experience in doubles and singles to guide, coach 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 of the Badminton and Racquet Club of Toronto since 2008. She is also 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 2014 Women’s World Team Championships and continues to coach at the top junior tournaments in the world. Marc was also there. recipient of the Squash Ontario Coaching Achievement Award in 2017. In addition, Marci is also an active Coach Developer and Evaluator in Canada and sits on the Squash Ontario Junior High Performance Committee, Squash Canada Coaches Committee and high performance of Squash Canada.
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