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I think that I am in pretty good shape and I am only 28. Still, when I work two games on a weekend (professional ball with a couple of thousand people in the stands) I feel really exhausted after the weekend. When you travel a couple of hundred or even thousands of miles to your games that is very hard. Often you don't get enough sleep (games end at 10, you leave the gym at 11, go get something for dinner, maybe have a beer with your partners, back in the hotel at 1, have to get up at 8 to have breakfast and catch the next plane/train/whatever)), especially considering that you are full of adrenaline after a game with a lot of pressure.
Another point is, that you don't really have time to go back to your games, analyse them properly and work on your mistakes. Yes, you can watch video on the plane, but you can't change your habbits from one day to another. It takes more time in my opinion. From my point of view a game every other day is definitely enough on that level. Put in a couple of back to back games a season, that would be ok. But not 6 games a week on a regular basis, regardless of mechanics or stuff. You can run 100 miles a week if you are properly conditioned (so 2 or 3 men doesn't make a difference), but you cannot referee 6 nights a week on your highest level!!! I once read an article where another coach complained about referees who worked that many games and after only two weeks couldn't even remember a serious incident in a game at the same gym. In my opinion that should never happen. It tells me that the referee didn't have time to analyze the incident, review the tape, discuss it with partners/supervisors ... (oh, and yes, I do believe coaches have a right to have an oppinion about referees and voice their concerns)
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