Workshop Facilitators

Matt Deasey '99, '00

Boys Basketball Director; MD Candidate, Temple University (PA)

Shannon Drury

Co-Director, Summer Leadership Academy; Teacher/Coach, Frank W. Cox High School (VA)

Coach Drury graduated from the University of Miami in 2000 with a BBA in Sports Management. At Miami, she was a scholarship athlete on the basketball team. She then earned her MBA from Southern New Hampshire University in 2001. Shannon was an assistant coach at Virginia Wesleyan College and Cape Henry Collegiate School before beginning her teaching career at Norfolk Collegiate where she taught Health and PE, coached middle school volleyball, and coached the varsity girls basketball team, winning 2 TCIS Championships. Shannon currently teaches and coaches at her former high school, Frank W. Cox, in Virginia Beach. While at Cox she was a standout athlete playing golf, tennis, volleyball, and basketball. In addition to coaching girls varsity basketball at Cox, Shannon is co-advisor of the SCA and teaches business and leadership skill development. She also organizes the Cox Leadership Workshop, an annual retreat for 200 students.

You can reach Shannon via email at shannon@scleadershipacademy.org

Jeremy Edwards

Executive Director, SportsChallenge Leadership Academy

Jeremy Edwards grew up in Washington, D.C. and attended St. Albans School serving as a senior prefect and two-sport captain. He went on to graduate from Haverford College where he played baseball, captained the basketball team and eventually coached. Jeremy later led a professional European basketball club to Welsh and English League Championships. While in the UK, Jeremy coached the men's team at Cardiff University, the women's team at the University of Wales and the Welsh Junior National Team. Jeremy went on to earn a Master’s degree in Leadership Studies from Stanford University's School of Education. He taught, coached, served as the Dean of Students and directed the Leadership Program at the Edmund Burke School (DC) where he worked for 15 years.

In 1996, Jeremy co-founded the SportsChallenge Leadership Academy. He has facilitated over 250 leadership workshops for students, parents, coaches and faculty throughout the country for SportsChallenge and the Stanford University based Positive Coaching Alliance. He has presented at over a dozen conferences, sat on numerous panels and served as a keynote speaker. He has coached middle, high school and college athletes in over 1,000 contests, and has been the Executive Director of SportsChallenge since 2007. Jeremy lives in DC with his wife, Amy Nakamoto, and their toddlers, Marcus, Austin and Owen.

You can reach Jeremy via email at jeremy@scleadershipacademy.org

Jim Ehrenhaft

Teacher/Coach, St. Albans School (DC)

Jim Ehrenhaft has taught and coached at St. Albans School in Washington, DC since the fall of 1987. Head cross country coach at both St. Albans and its sister school National Cathedral since 1998 (and head track & field coach at St. Albans from 2005-2008 and at National Cathedral since 2001), Ehrenhaft has led St. Albans to 11 Interstate Athletic Conference cross country titles and 4 Maryland/DC Private School cross country state championships, and National Cathedral to 7 Independent School League cross country titles and 2 Maryland/DC Private School state championships during that time. Ehrenhaft was named the The Washington Post DC girls track coach of the year in 2007, DC boys cross country coach of the year in 2006, 2007, and 2009, and DC girls cross country coach of the year in 2006 and 2007. Ehrenhaft was also named The Washington Post All-Met boys cross country coach of the year in 2009. Ehrenhaft is a 1983 graduate of St. Albans and a 1987 graduate of Haverford College, where he captained the cross country and track teams. He earned his Masters degree in Religion from George Washington University. He has taught religion, history, and English classes at St. Albans.

Pam Herath

Lead Workshop Facilitator; Associate Director NCLI, SportsChallenge Leadership Academy

Coach Herath went to Radford University where she was a scholarship, record-setting volleyball player. She earned her Masters Degree from James Madison University where she served as the graduate assistant to the Athletic Director. In 1989, Pam began her career at the Edmund Burke School (DC) where she taught health and coached volleyball, basketball and track/field. In 1991, she became the Athletic Director at Burke and in 2007 the Dean of Students—while continuing to coach along the way. Pam has facilitated over 100 leadership and coaching workshops. She is also a certified yoga instructor in both Kripalu and Vinyasa Flow. In 2012, Pam joined the year-round SportsChallenge staff as Lead Workshop Facilitator and Associate Director of the National Coaches Leadership Institute. Pam lives in Silver Spring, MD and still plays a mean 2 v. 2 volleyball!

Liz Koster

Director of Admissions and Finance

Liz Koster, originally from New Jersey, attended Montclair High School where she captained the varsity soccer, swimming and softball teams. She went on to graduate from Haverford College in 2004, where she obtained her B.A. in Psychology and captained the women's varsity soccer team. While at Haverford, she joined the SportsChallenge family in 2001 as a member of the Girls Soccer staff. Liz later pursued her education at University of Pennsylvania and graduated with her Master's in Social Work. She then moved on to work as a school social worker at Elwyn Seedlings, an early intervention program for children with autism. After coaching and teaching in the SportsChallenge system for 8 years, Liz accepted a year-round leadership position with the organization in 2010 as Director of Admissions and Program Coordinator.

You can reach Liz via email at liz@scleadershipacademy.org

Mali Petherbridge

Workshop Facilitator; Assistant Director, Students Run Philly Style (PA)

Mali graduated from Alexander Dawson School in Boulder, Colorado, where she captained the varsity soccer team. Mali went on to Bryn Mawr College (PA) where she captained soccer, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field and received the Anne Lee Delano Award for outstanding contribution by a scholar athlete. Mali coached girls soccer at SportsChallenge for three years, before building a long distance running and leadership summer program in Bucks County, PA. For the past six years, Mali has been the Assistant Director of Students Run Philly Style, a program that partners 12-18 year old youths in Philadelphia with adult mentors who train with them to complete a marathon. In 2009, Mali was selected as one of 12 emerging non-profit leaders in Southeastern Pennsylvania by the United Way.

Jason Polykoff '99

Workshop Facilitator; Assistant Basketball Coach, University of Pennsylvania (PA)

Jason was a 2002 graduate of Friends' Central School in Wynnewood, PA where he lettered in four different varsity sports. After high school he attended Haverford College (PA) and received a BA in Psychology with a minor in Educational Studies. While at Haverford, Jason was a member of the men's basketball team, earning Centennial Conference All-Academic and team MVP honors as the co-captain his senior year. Jason was a 7th and 8th grade math teacher at his alma mater, Friends' Central School, as well as the boys' varsity basketball coach through 2012. In his five years as head coach, Polykoff led the FCS boys’ basketball team to two Friends Schools League championships in 2010 and 2011 and four consecutive state titles from 2009 to 2012. Polykoff leaves FCS with a 113-28 career record. Today, Jason is an Assistant Coach with the University of Pennsylvania Men's Basketball Team. Jason has over five years of experience with SportsChallenge where he started as a student-athlete (1999), and progressed to a coach (2004, 2010, 2011), and finally the boys' basketball athletic director (2012).

Kodi Shay

Associate Director of Admissions

Will Stafford

Co-Director, Summer Leadership Academy; Teacher/Coach EL Haynes Charter School (DC)

Stephanie Wujcik

Workshop Facilitator; Teacher/Coach, Baldwin School (PA)