In The Last Word, we sit down with an industry expert to share their wealth of knowledge. In the 2023 September/October issue, the conversation features Matt McQuoid, the fitness director at the JCC of Central New Jersey.
1. How did you get started in the community recreation industry?
I started working as a camp counselor for Scotch Plains Township the summer before I went to college. I planned on teaching and thought the experience would be helpful in my future career, and I worked my way up in the camp to assistant director. After graduating from Montclair State University, I began working at the Westfield Area YMCA part-time as a personal trainer and youth sports coach.
2. What’s been a key to your team’s success? What are you most proud of?
Everyone is in the position to be most successful and have the biggest impact. We play to the strengths of each person and give them responsibilities that best align with their skillset. I’m most proud of the culture we’ve built. Everyone has a positive, can-do attitude and wholeheartedly supports our mission to serve our community.
3. What has been one of the biggest accomplishments of your career?
Over the last year, I led the modernization of our fitness facility with new flooring, equipment and technology. It looks completely different than last summer and has reenergized our space. With these improvements has come a massive uptick in facility usage, especially among teens.
4. What has been one of the biggest challenges you have faced in your career?
I was a teacher for two years and wasn’t finding the same fulfillment I had as a coach or trainer. After deciding to change my career, I enrolled at the University of Miami to pursue a master’s through their online program and moved from New Jersey to Virginia to be the health and wellness director for the Kirk Family YMCA. It was challenging balancing so many changes. I was living in a very different region than where I had spent most of my life, going back to college and developing a department for the first time. It was a tough but rewarding experience.
5. What is one lesson you have learned that other community recreation professionals can learn from?
Emily Dickinson summed it up best with, “If you take care of the small things, the big things take care of themselves.” Being detail-oriented and intentional with the day-to-day operations ensures success on overarching goals. Often things that seem the most innocuous, like greeting a member by name, are actually the most important. It’s the daily choices and routine actions that put you on a trajectory to succeed.
6.Tell us one fact about yourself others may not know.
Every year I do the One Ton Fitness Challenge. It’s a combination of powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting, with the goal of totaling 2,000 pounds. It helps motivate me to stay in shape and keeps me well-rounded.
