The Value of Time

I think it is interesting that a lot of people put a real large value on the time they spend doing things other than work. You know the time spent volunteering for things.

Someone may ask if you can spend some time helping with a project for the church, organization, community service or kids’ sports. Whether it is a fundraiser, cleaning up after winter or something as simple as reffing a peewee basketball game or umping a little league baseball game it is difficult for some to make a commitment.

I love doing a lot of those things but to be honest my body isn’t allowing me to do as many of those things as it had before. I guess it is a sign that I’m getting older and need to not do as much as I did just a few years back. Don’t misunderstand me I’ll continue doing some of these things but maybe not all of them or not to the extent I once did.

Since I was raised on the farm I was led to believe that my time wasn’t worth much more than three square meals and a roof over my bed. Fortunately the meals were great and the bed was comfortable. But when asked to ump a little league game I never asked how much I would be paid just when they wanted me there. Money never changed hands and I was happy to work the game.

There is something more to gain knowing you are helping another group of young people see how to play a game fairly and hopefully enjoy it no matter the outcome.

But I know that officials are hard to come by because this is valuable time taken out of one’s life and some fear a parent or coach might not like a call that is made. I’ve often said you get what you pay for and that usually shuts the disgruntled individual up. If not then you merely ask if they want the whistle or the facemask and umpire gear. Most aren’t interested in going quite that far.

I remember some people that umped our games and reffed and it didn’t matter if I agreed with a call or not it was important to have that person behind the plate so that we were able to play the game. Not right away but maybe a few years later it hit me that those people wanted to spend time at my game. Then I understood the value of their time.

I’ve reffed peewee basketball games with Mike Miller for several years now and it is good to work with someone I know. We work well together and we can follow the game and players as closely as possible. We talk to the kids and let them know what they did wrong and how to do it right. We’ve had a lot of positive comments from visiting fans and our fans as well. They understand that we are trying to teach the members of both teams how to play the game correctly.

Mike told me that when he was in Reardan a few weeks back some of the Reardan faithful came up to him and asked, “Why don’t you and that old guy come up and ref our peewee games?” By the way if you haven’t figured this out yet I was the old guy in that question!

When Mike told me that he wasn’t sure if we should be offended or appreciated. I basically said that I had been called worse and that it sounded like they were happy with how we did our jobs with the whistles. To me that is payment enough. When the opposing team’s fans appreciate the job a volunteer ref does it really doesn’t get any better than that.

I hope that there are a few of you that will take the time to think about the possibility of volunteering to ref or umpire this spring and help out our local little league teams.

If you are unsure about your qualifications ask if you can come to a practice and get a feel for working a game. Who knows you might like it and realize your time really can be valuable.