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Kevin D. Klipstein is the Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. Squash Association.

Klipstein (second syllable rhymes with "shine," not with "sheen"), is a Rochester, NY native and former varsity stand-out at Cornell, class of '91. The CEO position is responsible for all aspects of USSRA operations, from running national tournaments to maintaining and improving the ratings and rankings systems, to elite, women's junior and urban programs, to marketing and sponsorships.

It was Klipstein's immediate business background in this latter area, especially during a three-year late-1990's stint at ProServ, the sports marketing firm, and subsequently during the past five years at Sun Microsystems, the computer company, that doubtless played a crucial role in his selection over a field of highly qualified candidates for the CEO position. After several years in the California corporate offices at Sun, he moved to New York in 2003. He held various roles at Sun including a partnership marketing role, in which he was involved in negotiating sales and marketing deals with MLB.com, the official site for major league baseball, as well as a multi-year relationship with the National Hockey League.

But it may have more been the depth and diversity of Klipstein's early years out of college than his later involvement in the sports-marketing business world that have been the primary influence on the philosophy he brings to his new standing at the helm of America's leading squash organization. His time at Cornell coincided with the coaching tenure there of Peter Briggs, in whose Apawamis Club pro shop in Westchester Klipstein would spend the entire 1992-93 season as an assistant pro after allocating his first post-college year (an outgrowth of his major in environmental studies) out west first at the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) and then as a Resource Assistant at Big bend National park in Texas in a program modeled along that of Outward Bound.

Briggs runs one of the most active and successful junior programs in the country, and Klipstein is just one of numerous Briggs proteges who have gone on to make a significant mark as head pros and coaches of top-flight squash programs.

Klipstein later was the head squash pro at two clubs in the Seattle area, the Gateway Athletic Club and the Bellevue Athletic Club, and clearly the years he has spent running squash programs on both coasts, as well as in his capacity as a solid player (and finalist last year at the Yale Club event, where he pushed the much-younger recent second-team all-American Vinay Asthana to a close fifth game in the 5.5 flight) and current MSRA Treasurer (a position he will resign in the wake of his CEO appointment), have in a major way molded the perspective and priorities he will bring into the Bala-Cynwyd offices with him.

These seem to be more geared to a focus on the grass-roots front of the game than was true of his predecessor, whose remarkable success (by some estimates, $750,000 worth) in fund-raising and technology infrastructure upgrade were praiseworthy legacies.

Klipstein will be heavily involved in those areas as well, of course, but when asked to rank his most important goals in a recent phone interview, his foremost priorities---continued improvements and enhancements of the ratings and rankings that have been initiated in the past several years, a major attention to the local SRAs, especially in areas of the country that have a lower squash profile, many of which he plans to visit during the May/June timeframe, and particularly cultivating a far greater and more respected role for the teaching pros, who Klipstein regards from his own extensive first-hand experience as a truly significant and to this point under-utilized and under-appreciated potential source of new members and greater volunteerism---clearly reflect his own multi-front squash odyssey over the past dozen years.

Though somewhat under-stated in manner and appearance, Klipstein exudes a quiet passion and determination that has served him well in all the prior posts he has held in and out of squash, and he portrays a low-key but unmistakable sense of excitement and confidence as he takes on the important role of running the USSRA at this crucial juncture in its evolution.