 |
| 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?
Coming Next Time: Who is Ada Miller?
