SETTING THE
STANDARD
Diahann Viada broke new ground as PPA’ s first female referee, and embodies discipline, discernment and decisiveness at the highest level.
PHOTO BY WITTEN PAXTON
I by MATTHEW SCHWARTZ
It is a day Diahann Viada will never forget.
It was Feb. 13, 2020. Ben Johns and Matt Wright were playing against Tyson McGuffin and Riley Newman in the men’ s gold medal match during the Professional Pickleball Association’ s first-ever tournament, and Diahann was the referee, the PPA’ s first female ref.
“ It was groundbreaking for sure,” says Diahann.“ Was I nervous? Absolutely! When I get nervous, I talk to myself and just go to muscle memory, try to relax, and let my training lead the way.”
Her pickleball training was provided by Mark Peifer, now the head referee for the US Open Pickleball Championships. Mark met Diahann on a pickleball court in Southern California in 2018.
“ She approached everything with discipline,” Mark recalls.“ On court [ as a player ], her movements were precise, and she wanted to understand how to do things the right way fully. Later, I learned she had been a Marine, which explained a lot.”
Diahann( the unusual spelling comes from her mother’ s admiration for the actress Diahann Carroll) served in the Marines in Aviation Supply from age 19 to 25, leaving in 1993 due to an injury.
“ The Marine Corps was a terrific experience for me,” she says.“ It gave me focus and a career.”
Thirty years later, Diahann is part of a growing group of women who are professional pickleball referees. She is also the USA Pickleball Southwest Region Certified Referee Coordinator. Today, according to Jeff Watson, PPA’ s vice president of communications, of the 20 referees who work each PPA event, nearly half are women.
Diahann’ s discipline and work ethic stem not only from her military service, but also from her childhood.
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