We are excited to share that three of our Ed.D. colleagues have recently won KIN Professional Awards! Nori Pennisi, Joel Frye, and Tim Howley will all receive funding to help them pursue educational opportunities that will further enhance their professional and academic careers. Each of our colleagues shared their plans for the funding with us, and we are extremely excited for each of them!
Nori plans to use the award funding to visit the USTA National Training Facility in Orlando, Florida to be mentored by Dr. Larry Lauer, a UNCG alumni, who is a mental skills specialist and the lead of the USTA Player Development Mental Performance Team. During the visit she will shadow him while he conducts mental training sessions with players, both on and off the court during training and competition. In addition, she will have the opportunity to discuss player development and mental performance with national coaches; meet with the sport science staff members (e.g., sports medicine providers, strength and conditioning coaches) to better understand how the sport science team works together to help players perform at the highest levels; and learn more about the USTA coach education program. Nori is excited for this opportunity, noting “It is a rare opportunity for me to observe and discuss with others who do similar work as I do, so I am thrilled to have received this award. I am so excited to learn from someone in my profession who has been very successful as an applied sport psychologist.” She also noted that without this award this opportunity for targeted professional development would not be possible.
Joel will use his funding to attend The Aspen Institute’s Project Play Summit in Washington, DC in May 2022. At the Summit, kinesiology professionals and advocates will discuss the value of sports and physical activity, especially amid the challenges that have been presented by a global pandemic. Leaders from across the Project Play network will share lessons learned from the pandemic, celebrate exemplars and successes, and chart next steps in building young lives through sports at the community, club and school levels. Joel feels this professional development opportunity supports his long-time goal “…to create and develop my own nonprofit organization. My vision is to construct a platform that provides access and resources for youth and families to participate in organized sport and physical activity programs—specifically, I hope to offer opportunities in sports that traditionally lack representation from people of color.”
Tim will use the award to prepare and obtain certification as a Physical Activity in Public Health Specialist (PAPHS) through American College of Sports Medicine and National Physical Activity Society. He feels “this certification will help me with my professional goals in a variety of ways…I believe this certification will help validate my skill sets and make me a more attractive faculty candidate in a health sciences department, like my current one.”
In addition, this certification will help me “Be the face of exercise in your community” as stated on the Physical Activity in Public Health Specialist Certification website. This is very much how I would like to be viewed in my community and is a way for me to give back. I will continue to push my local government, school system and state to adopt policies that will help facilitate physical activity and contribute to the health and well-being of our community. This certification will provide me with additional qualifications should I want to act in a more formal capacity, such as a city council committee member or school board member.” He also notes that winning the award provides him with not only financial support, but also validates that importance of this professional development.
We would also like to give a huge thank you to Dr. Kate Barrett, Professor Emerita at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro for sponsoring the award and supporting student professional development.
Congratulations to all of our award winners! Keep up the great work! Learn more about the Ed.D. in KIN program.