Quote:
Originally Posted by UNIgiantslayers
If I misinterpreted your tone as holier-than-thou, my apologies. No sarcasm there. To me, it came off as "you guys aren't willing to do this for free???????" Almost incredulous.
I enjoy doing this. I truly do. I should add in the qualifier of "most nights." But I work 4-5 nights a week of varsity games due to the shortage of officials in my area, and I'm just not interested in doing it for free. I did some free work a few years back when I was a new official, and I did not enjoy it. Coaches still treated us poorly, the kids didn't thank us, and the parents were just as bad.
I spend my summers trying to get better by going to a camp or two, working paid scrimmages, and enjoying my time off from teaching and coaching (to a certain extent). Maybe I just don't have a lucrative enough career to ref for free. Who knows. What I do know is that I value my time with my family much more than I value "giving back" to kids who don't thank me, coaches who act like jerks, and fans who don't know the rules. Maybe those involved act differently in your area but that's how it is here.
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My apologies. Definitely didn't want to come off like that.
I too work 4-5 nights per week of varsity action. It's not like I work a free game every week. A couple of times per year. A couple of camps in the summer.
Once again, it sounds like a lot of you guys have coaches, players, and parents that are just more disrespectful than what I have seen. That's too bad and I can see how it contributes to your decision of not working for free.
Thanks for the conversation!