So, What You’re Saying Is That They’re Easy To Bribe

I coach for a major youth sports club. The club sports scene is governed by a National Organization that hosts the National Championship Tournament every summer. There are a bunch of local regions all under the National Organization so that teams can compete locally ahead of the National Tournaments.

Our local region is known for being insanely cheap and cutting corners wherever possible to save themselves a penny. This tournament is being held three hours from my hometown, well off the beaten path, and there are no referees, so coaches for a team that isn’t playing have to ref. My team has just finished reffing when a tournament official approaches me.

Official: “Hi, I need you to do me a favor.”

Me: “What’s that?”

Official: “Your pool of teams has finished rather quickly. I’ve got two more matches still to be played in another pool, so I’m moving one of those matches over to this court, and you’ll be the officials. That way we get done quicker. So, you won’t have any time for lunch, but we’ll leave sooner.”

Me: “Wait a second. You want me to ref an extra match and skip lunch? How much am I getting paid for this?”

Official: “We don’t pay coaches to ref. You know that. You’re doing this as a favor to me.”

Me: “Uh, no. If you want me to skip lunch and do extra work I’m not required to do, I’m going to need to be paid. I’ll do it for $200.”

Official: “Again, we don’t pay coaches to ref. You’re doing it as a volunteer. Think of it as your good deed for the day.”

Me: “Sorry, but I’m not reffing out of the goodness of my heart. $200 or I’m not doing it.”

Official: “You can’t just demand $200 from us. We have a payment system. If you were working for us as an official, you’d get $20 per match. We don’t pay refs more than that, ever. $200 is practically a whole day’s worth of work. I’m only getting paid $150 for today, and I have to be here from 6:00 am until probably 9:00 or 10:00 pm, with no breaks.”

Me: “That really sucks. But I’m hungry, so I’m done here. Goodbye.”

I honestly felt a little bad that she was working a tough and thankless job for under minimum wage.