Demer Holleran Receives Tournament of Champions Women’s Leadership Award by Beth Rasin l to r: John Nimick,Demer Holleran, Ashley Bernhard photo squashpics.com
New York, NY – January 12, 2016.
Demer Holleran, one of the most dominant players in US squash history,
received the third annual Tournament of Champions (ToC) Women’s
Leadership Award in recognition of her sustained leadership and
contributions to the sport of squash.
Holleran
received the award from event co-chairs John Nimick, the president of
Event Engine, promoter of the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions, the
world’s largest spectator squash event, and Ashley Bernhard, Deputy
Chair of the Board of the Professional Squash Association. Previous
recipients include Linda Elriani, Director of Squash at Brooklyn’s
Heights Casino and Tournament Director of the Carol Weymuller Open and
Natalie Grainger, Director of Squash, Chelsea Piers –
Stamford.
Holleran, who has won 34
national championships, including a record nine women’s US National
titles, was recognized for the leadership mantle she assumed as a
player, a coach and a developer of one of the largest public squash
clubs in the US. After graduating from Princeton University,
where she won three intercollegiate national championships, the
Philadelphia native spent one year playing the women’s professional
squash tour abroad. Upon her return to the US, Holleran embarked
on a coaching career while continuing to play professional squash and
representing the US in five world team championships and three Pan
American games.
As head coach at U.Penn, her teams
were consistently one of the top three women’s college squash teams and
won a national championship in 2000. Holleran extended her
commitment to developing and supporting female squash players when she
created the only all-girls’ summer squash camp.
Holleran
transitioned from coach to club owner in 2007 when she developed and
opened the 46,000 foot Fairmount Athletic Club, with 14 squash courts,
in King of Prussia, Pa.
“Demer’s leadership at the
grass roots and club level has been focused on increasing public access
to squash” said Nimick. “It is especially fitting that we are paying
tribute to Demer at the Tournament of Champions, which for the past 25
years has been similarly committed to bringing the sport to the public
at large.“
“The ToC Women’s Leadership Award and the
associated luncheon were inaugurated in 2014 to enhance the visibility
of women leaders in the sport of squash and promote gender equity,”
said Bernhard. “We are inspired by Demer Holleran’s continuing
leadership and commitment to growing our sport.”
