Messick Uses Officiating to Stay Connected to the Game He’s Loved Forever

From the time Jon Messick was 10 years old, he knew he wanted to be around tennis.

He picked up a racket for no particular reason — the only family member who played was his uncle, who he had never seen play. But a tennis promoter in his community, in some ways, shaped his love for the game by paying his entry fees, buying shoes, rackets and strings.

“It was just kind of something I fell in love with,” Messick reflected. His passion has never waned.

Between then and now, decades of life and tennis have passed, including 31 years of coaching at Colorado State University. Currently, you can still find Messick on courts around Colorado, this time as an official for the Colorado High School Activities Association.

After retiring from the coaching position at CSU in 2016, Messick wasted no time in finding an outlet to continue his passion for tennis. Just two months after announcing his retirement, he started the certification process to become an official. Six months later, he was calling matches.

To call six months a long time or a short time is subjective to many, but Messick certainly felt like the former was most true while he worked to get the right certifications. Luckily, the actual content wasn’t too difficult given the amount of time he’d spent around the game all his life.

But as it always had, the infatuation drove him.

“That’s why I started that process,” Messick said. “I just felt it would be a good way to keep it going as far as staying connected with the game.”

For a period of time, an adjustment was needed from Messick in terms of what he was doing on the court.

Mainly, there was the “dark side” factor, as Messick called it. Like in all sports, coaches and athletes have some deal of animosity towards referees. So, for Messick, the beginning of his new chapter really did feel like he was joining the dark side.

But with that, he also grew an immense appreciation for the exact type of work officials do.

“When you become an official, you start to fully understand how difficult it is,” Messick said. “As a player and as a coach, you don’t really get that perspective. When you become an official, you understand how hard it is to make quick decisions and try to interpret the rules correctly and always be on top of it. So I have a greater appreciation for officials.

“Players, coaches and officials are all kind of like oil and water; sometimes they don’t get along. … You can’t please everybody, so you also have to have a thick skin.”

He said he experiences the friction much more on the college side than the high school side of things, but the toughness of individual calls persists at every level.

The joy he gets to witness from the high schoolers he officiates makes everything worth it.

When a team or individual wins a state championship, he said teammates often storm the court. Like a buzzer-beater or a Hail Mary, those moments are the culmination of a weekend’s, a year’s or even a career’s body of work.

“They’re yelling, they’re hugging each other, jumping up and down. It’s just so much fun to see that,” Messick said. “And you also see the tremendous support they have from their friends and their family. (City Park) is just packed with hundreds of people and it’s just fun to watch the excitement.”

“Officiating can be challenging sometimes, but I think for the most part, it’s enjoyable to be around the game and to be a part of having people enjoy playing.”

Which fortifies his own love for the game he’s spent basically his entire life around.

As he watches high schoolers build up both skill and love for tennis from the umpire’s chair, he can’t help but think back to the times he was a ball boy for superstars like Arthur Ashe. Or, to when he became a tennis teaching pro after graduating from college because, naturally, he knew more about the sport than he ever did studying economics. Or, to the years when he head coached a college program for part time pay.

And everything in between.

“(Officiating) gives you a sense of purpose and relevance when you’re out there helping other people enjoy the same game you’ve enjoyed over the years,” Messick said. “I mean, there are challenges but I think the bottom line is it’s very worthwhile for the sport and for the love of the game.

“It helps reinforce your love of the game and it validates what you’ve been doing all your life.”

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