USAPA PERSONNEL
EXPANSION CONTINUES
Karen Parrish and Mark Peifer
Fill Critical Roles
BY JUSTIN MALOOF
USAPA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
n the last edition of Pickleball Magazine, I was proud
to introduce former USTA employees Hope Tolley and
Jason Jamison as key additions to USAPA’s newly
formed Recreational Department. With recreational
initiatives now underway (see page 66), it was important for
USAPA to address other critical personnel needs. And, the
latest additions are no strangers to our organization.
Karen Parrish, former USAPA Atlantic Regional Director
from 2013-2017 and current District Ambassador for the
Emerald Coast District in the Florida Panhandle, has been
hired as USAPA’s new Managing Director of Competition and
Tournaments.
In her new position with the organization, Parrish will
oversee USAPA’s competition department with an emphasis
on growing and streamlining all sanctioned tournament play,
including the USAPA regional tournaments and the National
Championships. Parrish, taking over the position from
Christine Barksdale who recently left for a new opportunity
with HEAD Pickleball, will also oversee USAPA staff
whose responsibilities include ratings, equipment testing/
standards, referees and other competition-related areas.
After starting on May 1, her first order of business was a trip
to the US Open Pickleball Championships in Naples with
the purpose of observing and meeting with several industry
contacts who were in attendance. Since then, she has
been busy getting up to speed with several staff and board
members and working with USAPA’s 11 Regional Directors
on upcoming regional tournaments.
Parrish, along with David Jordan, Anne Reynolds and
Kyle Klein, will also serve as an event chair for the 2019
Margaritaville USA Pickleball National Championships. The
event this year will be held November 2-10 at the world-
famous Indian Wells Tennis Garden facility in Indian Wells, CA.
Parrish comes from a family that featured highly
competitive athletes, which fueled her passion for sports.
After high school, she played competitive slow pitch softball
for over 25 years and three years on the diamond playing
women’s professional baseball. However,
it was the sport of pickleball that has
consumed her and she is excited and
ready to “go to work!”
In addition to the Parrish hire, USAPA
has also retained Mark Peifer as the
organization’s Director of Officiating. This
is a new position for the organization,
as all previous referee responsibilities
Karen Parrish
were the responsibility of the Managing
Director.
Peifer, a graduate of the US Naval
Academy with service in the nuclear
submarine force, is looking to upgrade
the consistency, user friendliness and
accessibility of the association’s referee
program and all officials-related training
and educational initiatives. Peifer will
be evaluating the current certification
process and exploring new ways to get
more people engaged and comfortable
with refereeing in general.
Mark Peifer
Peifer understands that challenges exist to find good-
quality referees and says there are several groupings
of referees — those who want to learn how to referee,
but don’t know how to find a trainer in their area; those
who are currently refereeing and would like to pursue
certification; and then a large group of players who
would enjoy being a referee but just don’t know it yet.
The challenge of those involved in training referees is to
address the needs of each grouping.
Peifer had nearly two decades of tennis playing
experience before picking up a pickleball paddle in 2015
and has been hooked on the sport ever since. Aside from
being an outstanding USAPA-certified referee himself,
he knows what’s necessary to facilitate a successful
referee certification program and is looking forward to
the challenge.
MAY/JUNE 2019 |
MAGAZINE
9