Ron McKinney
His own prep playing career consisted solely of time on his high school baseball and basketball teams.
There was even a trip as a freshman to the Kentucky High School State Tournament at Freedom Hall in Louisville, the only of Ron McKinney’s four years not spent in Tennessee.
Memories are plenty. But McKinney’s first time ever officiating a tennis match, scratch that, a district tournament, for the TSSAA still brings a chuckle.
After all, McKinney expected to be the supporting help.
Instead, he was the lone official. This, after tennis friend and occasional foe on the Nashville club circuit, Clyde McCampbell, convinced McKinney to lend a hand officiating high school tennis.
More than 20 years later, and as McKinney is honored as a TSSAA Distinguished Service Award recipient, the memory lingers in vivid detail.
“It was kind of funny, Clyde asked me to do it and back then, the certification process was not quite as involved as it is now,” McKinney said. “I think maybe you just took a simple test and off you went.
“Well, my first assignment, Clyde asked me to go to Shelbyville and officiate a district high school tournament. I assumed either he or someone experienced would be there with me. But I get down there, and I’m by myself. And I kind of had to learn from the get-go.”
The education was immediate. McKinney remembered walking out onto the court and inspecting the setup to ensure it met state high school tennis regulations, a move that prompted a friendly message from the host coach.
“It was really kind of amusing, because I was kind of surprised to be there by myself,” said McKinney, who played baseball and basketball at Columbia Central and graduated from MTSU with a degree in business administration. “The coach at Shelbyville then was a great guy, very helpful and understanding and as I was going through the routine, measured the nets and all of this, he said, ‘Ron, you can measure these nets but we don’t have any way to adjust them.’ That was my first experience.”
An Estill Springs, Tennessee, native who also lived in Winchester, Fayetteville and Huntingdon as well as Columbia, with one year in Fulton, Kentucky, interspersed for his father’s job as retail store manager for National Stories, McKinney still is amassing tennis memories.
He’s worked 11 TSSAA Spring Fling State Championships and logged seven years as a head referee. He’s still officiating collegiate tennis matches and holds calendar dates in April for a trio of matches at his alma mater, MTSU, as well as a couple more at Tennessee Tech.
“Over the years, I’ve officiated a lot and now it is mostly college stuff,” said McKinney, quick to thank his wife, Ann, of 60 years for her understanding, as well as that of his daughter, Kimberly, a runner and yoga enthusiast. “I did some USTA stuff when I started helping high schools locally and down in Shelbyville, but the Tennessee High School State Tournament is my favorite event of the year.
“I love the kids being part of the team and it’s a big deal to them and you’ve got the parents and grandparents and all of that stuff. “
TSSAA proudly salutes Ron McKinney for his many years serving as a TSSAA official.
