Great Recession ...
Is there a way to get past the pay wall of this article?
We've been losing members since our membership spiked during the collapse of the housing bubble in 2007 and 2008 causing the Great Recession that sent the unemployment rate up to 10%, more than double its pre-crisis rate. Guys needed officiating money to pay their mortgage, rent, car payments, groceries, insurance, utility, and other bills. It wasn't just about golf money, beer money, or poker night money any more.
As employment improved in later years, our membership suffered. Complaining players, coaches, and fans, with their verbal and physical assaults, and, of course, COVID, didn't help matters.
I hope that it improves locally next year. I'm getting too old, my arthritis is getting too severe, and I really don't need the money, for me to work five or six times a week. But if I'm needed, I'm needed, and I'll suck it up and heed the call once again. My local board has stood by and backed me for over forty years, I'll do the same for them to the best of my ability.
__________________
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
“I was in prison and you came to visit me.” (Matthew 25:36)
Last edited by BillyMac; Mon May 02, 2022 at 05:20pm.
|