“Tennis Everyone”

St. Michael's Boys team

03 May 2017 – The New Mexico Activities Association (NMAA) high school tennis tournament is beginning today. I’ll miss chairing individual and doubles finals tomorrow night, and being a site referee for first day of team competitions on Friday. This is due to “retiring” from U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) and Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) officiating at the end of last year. I still love the game: hit-the-ball, hit-the-ball, hit-the-ball (hopefully over the net and inside the court). I consider myself very fortunate to have been an official for the USTA & ITA the previous decade. 

During those years, the majority of my trips down & up I-25 between Santa Fe and Albuquerque were to the University of New Mexico for college assignments. Most had been college chair-umpire work when the two organizations worked closely together. In fact, to get ITA certification you had to be USTA qualified, and the ITA rules were part of USTA’s “Friend At Court” rule book. That changed last year. However, for me, the highlight of the tennis year in New Mexico was the annual NMAA high school tournament, or “State” as its called here. The adrenalin and excitement pumped you through three and a half action packed days. To see the players & fans so “pumped” was a joy that often stayed with you for days (if not weeks).

I will greatly miss working with the other ITA & USTA officials, the players (from Juniors on up), and the event organizers & tournament directors (plus their staff). The USTA has evolved significantly during the 10-years I represented them. They’re making major improvements: great outreach work introducing younger players, and a broader cultural diversity, to the entire spectrum of the sport. Many folks don’t realize that the PGA (Professional Golf Association) and USTA are the sports organizations that generate more revenue than the National Football League (until recently a non-profit) in this country. When you think of the hundreds of tournaments (Juniors-to-Seniors), it is easy to see how that has been done; and don’t forget the merchandizing = big buck$ too...

I was occasionally asked: “why did you leave (the officiating)?”

My reply: “It used to be more fun.”

Much like “working for the government” the bureaucracy of a large organization can eventually wear you down. I’ve had over forty years of government service (between being an employee & contractor) and thought it time to step-back from this mega-organization. Now, they are by no means FIFA or the IOC (thank goodness), but over-the-years I’ve observed little changes and cues from USTA. I guess the earliest was when we were told that USTA wanted to get younger and have a more diverse cadre of officials. 

This was followed shortly thereafter by officials having to print out their own annual refresher pages for use at the mandatory certification training and meeting. A year or two later a national USTA instructor introduced a new proposed paradigm to us: forego payment (about $15 per hour at the time) and do it for “the love of the game.” That hasn’t happened, but we do still love the sport. Then there were National HQ instructors pointing out the facts-of-life: some players were untouchables, they generated so much fan interest (and revenue) that they could assault an official on court and get away with it (or be re-instated post-performance enhancing drug suspension and be waved into a tournament without earning their way back via points. I recall when Andre Agassi had to play a tournament in Burbank to earn points on his way back: good thing for him and the game that he did).

player at NMAA 

As noted, over the past 10-years USTA has made additional positive changes: only allow the wearing of their officials shirts at their sanctioned events (ITA, conferences and other events have their own); the separation of ITA rules from the USTA rule book (well, I’m still not “sold” on that one); required completion of the “Safe Play” course on-line on how to identify and report potential child/sexual abuse cases (post-Penn State/Sandusky).

Many of the above changes and additions were good.

One that wasn’t as positive (from my perspective) was taking away the part of the mandatory annual training in a classroom, to individuals completing everything on-line. I believe a mix of remote learning and face-to-face works best. They limited the opportunity to talk with other officials as a group about common concerns & issues. Instead when six of us worked a college match we talked then, but we were usually too busy to consult  about the craft. Another “suggestion” was that each of us, as contractors, should acquire $1-2 million of liability insurance: in case we made a bad decision/call. ITA & USTA didn’t employ us, just contracted us leaving us with the liability exposure in case of a bad call. Adding this liability factor, to state gross receipts taxes, invoicing errors (by referees), and ITA & USTA membership fees it no longer was as fun as it used-to-be (except for “State”: what athletic events should be like).

So, despite some conditions-of-maturity and limitations, I’ve decided I’m going back to play (& have fun).

Coming Next Time: Who is Ada Miller?