Longtime AAU Volunteer & National Staff Member Passes
08/05/2022
Pamela Kirby "Pam" Marshall dedicated her life to developing youth sports in countless roles and numerous ways
Pam began her journey with the AAU when her son, Kirby, started playing AAU baseball back in the 1980's in the south Florida area. It wasn't long before Pam volunteered her time for the AAU organization including election as an Officer in the Florida Gold AAU Association (now "District") in the early 1990's.
From there, she rose to become the first female National Chair of AAU Baseball and the first woman on the board of USA Baseball, serving on its Executive Committee.
In 2000, Pam grew the national AAU Baseball program to more than 50,000 members across the United States. During that time, AAU Baseball was ranked as the #3 sport in AAU membership totals (behind AAU Boys Basketball and AAU Girls Basketball programs, respectively).
(USA Baseball Media Guide from the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia)
Due to her success at the local and national sports levels, Pam was one of a select group of AAU volunteers recruited to join the AAU national staff as the AAU relocated its national headquarters from Indianapolis, Indiana to Orlando, Florida in 1996 when Disney's Wide World of Sports (now ESPN Wide World of Sports) Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida became the "Home of the AAU."
(AAU national office in Florida)
As Director of Volunteer Services, Pam oversaw the AAU national office's volunteer support services, including customer service calls, management of the AAU database and overseeing data entry of the mail-in AAU membership forms.
It was in this role that Pam realized the value of the AAU organization transitioning from paper membership forms to processing its applications online.
She was instrumental in pushing the AAU online. In 1998, the AAU launched its first membership forms on what was then known as the "world-wide web" aka today's internet. Then, in 1999, AAU started accepting credit cards along with the AAU forms that could now be filled out conveniently online.
In the early 2000's, Pam took on a new role at the AAU national office, overseeing the AAU James E. Sullivan Award handed out to America's top amateur athlete for outstanding achievement each year since 1930.
Then hosted at the historic New York Athletic Club, recipients during Pam's tenure included Michael Phelps (2003, swimming), Tim Tebow (2007, football), Shawn Johnson (2008, gymnastics) and Ezekiel Elliot (2014, football).
She also oversaw the creation of the AAU Gussie Crawford Lifetime Achievement Award, intended to recognize those athletes whose efforts, both on and off their playing surface, on the national or international stage, have paved the way for great change in amateur sports.
In her most recent role, Pam was Director of Sponsorships. She was responsible for developing and maintaining strong relationships with both current and prospective AAU partners.
Through the years, Pam has brought her vision and passion for sports to numerous boards including serving on the National Council of Youth Sports (NCYS) board of directors, an organization that promotes the value of youth sports participation through advocacy and education. She served as NCYS board secretary in 2017.
Besides her role as AAU Baseball Chair, Pam also helped developed the AAU Football program. As the national staff liaison for AAU Football, she was instrumental in establishing a relationship with USA Football and garnering AAU additional money to invest back into the AAU football program through grants then given out by the NFL to youth programs. . Pam worked with the NFL's Union Representative Gene Upshaw in securing a multi-year agreement to provide $250,000 per year to afford AAU Football organizations the opportunity to apply for up to $25,000 to purchase helmets and other related equipment.
(Pam taking notes at an AAU Board of Directors meeting)
Pam's AAU honors are many. She earned her 35-year AAU service pin in 2016 and AAU President's Leadership Awards for Outstanding Service to the AAU in 1993, 1997, 2010, and 2012 respectively.
In 2021, she was the recipient of the Jan Lyon AAU Memorial Award. This award was created in 2018 to honor the legacy of longtime AAU national staff member Jan Lyon. It is presented annually to any AAU National Staff and/or AAU Volunteer for outstanding performance and achievements on behalf of the AAU.
Pam was passionate about sports, was an avid traveler, and loved all animals, especially dogs and cats. She gave of countless hours of her time in support of local animal services and frequently donated to animal-related causes.
For more than 40 years, Pam served the AAU in various capacities at the local, district, and national level. These roles included volunteer, mentor, leader, and most importantly, friend. We know the entirety of AAU membership joins us in expressing our heartfelt condolences and sorrow to the Marshall family. While she will never be replaced, Pam will always be in our hearts.
Pam is survived by her husband (Sam), son and daughter-in-law (Kirby and Tristan), and three grandchildren (Calvert, Samuel and Elsie-June).
There are no funeral arrangements available at this time but info will be posted once details become available.
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