For the love of the game?

[slow whistle]

Originally Posted by LDUB

So you worked from 9-5, then went and worked a side job and made $10/hr while exercising. Sounds better than working 9-5 then working at Wal Mart for 4 hours making $8/hr, then going to the gym, which has fees, for an hour. For someone who wants to make money and exercise sports officiating seems like a better option.



There are guys who officiated some sport and then started officiating volleyball. Some of those guys had more or less never known anything about volleyball. Do you think they decided to officiate volleyball because they loved the game?

Perhaps I should have been a little more clear...my point was that I would not take a side job for $10/hr (which is not what I make when you deduct everything, it is probably closer to $8) even if it allowed me to exercise! $8/hr with exercise is not worth the time spent away from my family, the grief we deal with, etc, etc, if I didn't love the game....

Your point about volleyball for instance is valid, but more than the particular sport, I think it is the level that makes the difference - for instance I know guys who work 3-4 lower level (5-8th grade) games in the time it takes me to work one hs varsity game and they can walk out the door with more than 2X the money (and nowhere near the grief) that I do for the same time committment...maybe they don't love the game I don't know...but if you do this at a relatively high level you must love the game, b/c the money on its own isn't worth it and you can make more doing other things..