Dave30,
Yeah, I like the kids too. I played in the CYO youth league and started my reffing career with them. So the league has been very good to me and that's why I still do it.
I'm not sure where you're located, but at least in San Francisco, the schools in the CYO league have some dinky old gyms that are really "close quarters". Specator seating is literally on top of the players and refs.
It's almost impossible to avoid contact with fans/parents/etc and sometimes hard to tune out since they're right on top of you. I'm usually pretty relaxed person, but when I ref, I just put a scowl on my "face". I hope that scares the parents away.
