This has probably been asked before, but it has been a while if it has....
Me, I did softball exclusively up until four years ago..until....my ASA assignor had been bugging me for a couple of years to go into hs volleyball, which is a fall sport around here. He kept saying, 'Ya gotta do volleyball...ya GOT to do volleyball - modified (7th/8th grade) volleyball is STEALING! I finally gave in, took the insanely hard course - we get the NCAA rule book/mechanics - and started volleyball. BOY WAS HE EVER RIGHT!
You have to understand that at the 7th/8th grade level, 90% of the kids are literally just learning the sport...and about half the coaches , too! So most of the matches do not even come close to straining your rule knowledge, and since the coaches are either ignorant, or are actually concentrating on their kids learning, you basically are there babysitting, PLUS - in our area, u end up working a fair percentage of your matches alone. PLUS - in our area we work three different counties, and in one of the counties, 90% of the time, you walk in the gym, and the first thing you get asked is, "You mind working a double match?" After much arm twisting, you of course agree. Match time is 4:30, but you have be there at 4 for pregame and warm ups.
So...second match I ever worked, I was by myself, We started the match at about 4:25....and I walked out of their at 5pm SHARP - all for the same fee we get around here for the same level of softball -sweating it out on the field for two hours!
I keep saying I felt like Willie Sutton walking out of a bank! A couple of weeks later, our assignor - who is part of the same school administrative/co-op group which assigns all the sports in the area - calls me to see if I wanted to work up in that 'special' county. I said sure...ended up working a double match BY MYSELF....and ended up getting a fee of....
$178 for about an hour and a half of 'work'..
You bet I made damn sure to make myself available for that area the next year!