Tennis means competition and community to Messick

Libby James
Correspondent

About Community Cornerstone Nominations

Jon Messick has been living and breathing tennis since he was a 10-year-old growing up in Salisbury, Md. Now the father of a married daughter and coach of Colorado State University tennis teams for more than two decades, his passion for the game is as strong as ever.

"I never get tired of recruiting players and watching top-level tennis," he said.

If it hadn't been for his childhood mentor, Bill Reardon, who had a habit of watching kids who signed up for parks and recreation tennis lessons and singling out those with promise, Messick said, he would never have developed such a love for the game. Messick's parents didn't play, but an uncle did and loaned him a racquet. Reardon encouraged him, registered him for tournaments, and saw to it that he saw the world's best tennis up close.

Reardon's mentorship played an important role in Messick's development as a player, but also in his determination to use his love of tennis to provide guidance, companionship and support for young people and for the game. The CSU team plays tournaments in the fall and dual matches in the spring. Voluntary workouts, lifting and conditioning during the winter months mean that being part of the team demands a high degree of commitment.

In addition to working hard to reach their own potential, the team is committed to outreach in the community. Players show up regularly at the Boys and Girls Club, as participants in the First Serve Program, a national organization that teaches life skills via tennis.

"The kids learn about relationships, the importance of academics, common courtesies, and the benefits of doing the right thing," Messick explained.

They look up to members of the team who in turn become familiar with the community, learn how to present themselves to others, and become aware of the importance of getting beyond their personal concerns and helping others. They sometimes bring the young players to the CSU courts to hit, and they give tours of their dorms and campus.

The team also helps with a junior high kick-off tennis clinic held in the absence of an official junior high school tennis program in Poudre School District. More than 100 youths turn out and many participate in an informal season of play, competing against each other.

Messick and his team also assist with elementary school physical education teacher in-service training through the USTA School Program, designed to encourage teaching the fundamentals of tennis at the elementary level through games and simple drills that don't require a tennis court.

Members of the CSU women's tennis team also work as volunteers for the annual Stop Hunger Tennis Tournament to benefit the Food Bank for Larimer County. And every year Messick lends a hand in organizing a tennis tournament in Loveland to benefit Hospice of Larimer County.

Messick played basketball and ran cross-country in college, but tennis remained his first love. He's pretty quiet about his achievements, but the CSU Tennis Media Guide tells all. He followed up a junior career that included a No. 1 doubles ranking in Maryland and the Middle Atlantic Region with membership on a Swarthmore College team that took four straight Middle Atlantic Conference titles. Messick was doubles champion his senior year.

He earned a degree in economics in 1973, but the call of tennis was strong enough to take him to Arizona and Nevada where he worked as a pro in the John Gardner organization, and then to Keystone in Colorado where he was the first tennis pro in 1976. After working as a pro at The Ranch near Denver and completing a degree in accounting, he put tennis aside for a few years, working in public accounting and on his own in the field.

But the tennis bug returned, and he came to Fort Collins as pro at The Tennis Center, now Miramont North. One day he dropped into CSU Athletic Director Fum McGraw's office to check on the tennis situation. While they had no scholarship money, McGraw welcomed him as men's coach. When the women's coach retired in 1989, he took on that job as well, and eventually quit the Tennis Center.

In 1996, CSU dropped men's tennis in pursuit of gender equity and at last the women's team was fully funded for eight scholarships, making it a viable enterprise. The team has experienced five winning seasons since then.

Messick has been a continuing force in tennis, not only in the Fort Collins community but also in the state and region. He serves on the board of directors of the Fort Collins Tennis Association and the Colorado Tennis Association, and he is chair of the CTA Ranking Committee. He is also on the board of the Intermountain Tennis Association, serving as liaison to the USTA Collegiate Committee, a task he likes as it allows him a free trip to the U.S. Open each year.

He was recently honored with the U.S. Tennis Association/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Community Service Award for the Intermountain Region and the Bud Robineau Award for outstanding contributions to the tennis community - and one more - he's the recipient of the Outreach Award presented by the Colorado Wheelchair Tennis Foundation.

Messick speaks fondly of his daughter, Briana, whom he raised alone from age 2 following the death of her mother. While she played some tennis growing up, Briana literally found her stride as a cross-country and track athlete at the University of Colorado and the University of Wisconsin. Today she and her husband work on their triathlon and duathlon training together, and Briana works as a personal trainer in Wisconsin.

The women of the 2007-2008 CSU Women's Tennis Team are about to begin a new season. Messick is beginning his 19th. Together they'll win some matches, and maybe lose a few, but thanks to a special coach, there will be other wins as well, for the team members and for the community.