New USA Volleyball Board Members Selected

Bill Kauffman
Associate Director, Communications
Phone: 719-228-6800
E-Mail: bill.kauffman@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 18, 2011) – USA Volleyball will have two new members on its Board of Directors at its next meeting this fall.

Kenneth Shropshire was selected by the USA Volleyball Nominating and Governance Committee to serve as one of the three independent directors replacing David Schreff, who has served as the Board chairman since October 2008. Kevin Twohig, the at-large representative and chair pro-tem of the Board, will serve as the interim chairman until the Board of Directors elects a new chairman at its upcoming meeting.

Sue Mailhot, commissioner of the Great Plains Region Volleyball Association, was elected to serve as the Officials’ representative to the Board of Directors. She replaces Mike Carter, whose term expired on June 30.

“On behalf of the Board, I would like to welcome Ken Shropshire and Sue Mailhot to the USA Volleyball Board of Directors,” Twohig said. “Both new Board members bring applicable experience and solid decision-making skills that should be an asset to USA Volleyball.”

Sarah Sulentor, a member of the 2000 U.S. Women’s Olympic Volleyball Team, was re-elected to the Board as the Female Indoor Athlete representative. She initially joined the board in 2008.

Shropshire, Mailhot and Sulenter will hold four-year terms from July 1, 2011, through June 30, 2015.

New Board Member Bios

Kenneth Shropshire
Shropshire currently serves as the David W. Hauck Professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and director of its Wharton Sports Business Initiative. After joining the faculty in 1986, he was promoted to full professor in 1999 and named endowed chair holder in 2001. Shropshire specializes in the areas of sports business, negotiations, diversity and general business law.

Shropshire is immediate past president of the Sports Lawyers Association, the largest organization of attorneys in the sports business. He has served in consulting roles working with the NCAA, National Football League, the United States Olympic Committee, negotiation training for IBM, Clorox and Fannie Mae and diversity training for entering Wharton School MBA students. He has also served for several years as the academic director of Wharton’s Business Management and Entrepreneurship Management Program for NFL players focusing on their transition away from the game. He also serves as an arbitrator for the NFLPA and USATF.

Shropshire, who earned an undergraduate degree in economics from Stanford University (1977) and a law degree from Columbia University Law School (1980), practiced law in the Los Angeles area in the early 1980s before becoming an executive with the Los Angeles Organizing Committee leading up to the 1984 Olympic Games. In his role with the 1984 Olympic Games, he was responsible for marketing, fundraising, management, corporate relations and legal capacities in collaboration with the organizing committee. During the 1984 Olympic Games, Shropshire was responsible for oversight of all issues related to the Olympic boxing competition.

His most recent books written are Negotiate Like the Pros: A Top Sports Negotiator’s Lessons for Making Deals; Building Relationships and Getting What You Want; and Being Sugar Ray: The Life of America’s Greatest Boxer and First Celebrity Athlete. In addition, Shropshire has authored or co-authored eight other books including The Business of Sports; In Black and White: Race and Sports in America; The Sports Franchise Game; and The Business of Sports Agents.

In partnership with seven directors, Shropshire founded the Valley Green Bank in Philadelphia and continues to serve on its Board of Directors. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Florida Coastal School of Law (a for-profit law school), the Board of Directors of NutraCea (NTRZ.OB) and as a trustee of the Women’s Sports Foundation.

Sue Mailhot
Mailhot, who has served as the commissioner of the Great Plains Region since 1997, returns to the USA Volleyball Board of Directors after an initial stint from 2003 to 2008. In her previous role with the Board of Directors, she represented the Region Volleyball Association until the Board of Directors was streamlined into its current number of directors.

Mailhot, who started playing volleyball in 1973, has served in a referee capacity since 1976 starting with being a National Federation Volleyball Referee. She holds certifications for USA Volleyball National Scorekeeper (1986-present), USA Volleyball International Scorekeeper for indoor and beach (1995-present), USA Volleyball Junior National Referee (1990-91), PAVO collegiate referee (1990-present), USA Volleyball National Referee (1991-present) and USA Volleyball National Beach Referee (2000-2006).

Mailhot has worked as an official at all but one USA Volleyball Open National Championships since 1986. Further, she has served as either a referee or scorekeeper at all but one USA Volleyball Junior National Championships since 1987. Among her top roles include serving as assistant tournament director at the USA Volleyball Open National Championships (2010-present), indoor volleyball scorekeeper for the 1996 Olympic Games (1996), scorekeeper for the Olympic Festival (1994), scorekeeper for the World University Games (1993), Rules Testing Commission representative (2004-2008), head referee and referee coordinator for the USA Volleyball Show Me Qualifier (2009-present), head referee/assistant head referee at various national qualifiers (2000-present), head scorekeeper at USA Volleyball Open National Championships (2000-2008), head referee and referee coordinator for NIRSA Championships (2008) and volleyball referee coordinator and assignor for AAU National Volleyball Championships (1993-present).

Mailhot has been involved with other major volleyball events during her career. She served as head referee and assignor for the NJCAA Division I National Championships (2007-2009), head referee and assignor for the National Christian College Athletic Association National Championships (2007), referee assignor for the American Christian College Athletics Association National Championships (2007) and tournament director and referee assignor for the Huntsman Senior Games (2009-present).

Mailhot has been recognized both nationally and regionally for her volleyball leadership. In 1997, she earned the Edward P. Lauten Scorekeeper Service Award. Mailhot was presented with the 2000 Nebraska school Activities Association Volleyball Referee of the Year. In 2004, USA Volleyball presented her with the George J. Fisher Leader in Volleyball Award. Mailhot earned both the Dr. Neville A. “Doc” Booth Commissioners Award and the Robert L. Lindsay Meritorious Service Award presented by the PAVO in 2007.

Re-Elected Board Member Bio

Sarah Sulentor (Noriega)
Noriega, who currently serves as a regional client manager for MedAssets, Inc., joined the U.S. Women’s National Team in January 1998 after a stellar career at Loyola Marymount University and later inducted into its Athletic Hall of Fame in 2010. She was named the USA Volleyball MVP in 1999 and made the 2000 Olympic Team in Sydney and helped the team finish fourth. Sulenter earned medals at the 2001 FIVB World Grand Prix (gold), 2002 FIVB World Championship (silver), 2003 FIVB World Grand Prix (bronze), 2003 Pan American Cup (gold) and 2003 FIVB World Cup (bronze). She continued playing with the U.S. National Team through 2005.

After retiring from volleyball, Sulentor worked at the U.S. Olympic Committee in the USOC Management Development Trainee program where she spent time in the Olympic Training Center Sport Partnerships, International Games and Operations Departments. She attended the 2007 International Olympic Academy (IOA) Young Participants session in Olympia, Greece, and served as the athlete liaison at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Sulenter holds a psychology degree from Loyola Marymount and currently lives in the El Segundo, Calif., area.

Tags: board, mobile, USA Volleyball Board