Great part time summer jobs are difficult to come by. A part time job that allows you get in shape and make some money is even more difficult to find. Does such a job even exist? It actually does. I had one many years ago.
The other day I was at my younger brother’s soccer game when I ran into my old boss. We started chatting about the usual complaints towards the ref and how I used to deal with that constant pressure. We laughed about how the referee is always right in his own mind, but wrong in the mind of the losing team. When you lose a soccer game, it’s not your fault. It’s the fault of the referee.
I used to work as a soccer referee. This was my best summer job ever. It was a high paying part time job for a student.
Before I get into more details, I wanted to tell you where I’m going with this piece. With this being Thanksgiving week, many of you reading this are going to have lots of down time to chill out and think about stuff over the weekend. If you’re off from school and looking for part times jobs for students, you can start to plan right now.
The truth is that the sooner you start planning for your next summer gig, the higher are your odds of actually finding a high paying part time job, instead of spending your summer on daily Saved By The Bell marathons.
How can you land this high paying part time job?
Becoming a soccer ref was actually really simple for me and I was only 15 at the time. The certification for being a soccer referee varies depending on where you live. I recommend looking into your local soccer association to see what they have to offer, what courses are available and when they’re open.
Once you get your basic credentials you can start working. I got my credentials in March so that I would be ready for the summer soccer season.
Why not consider taking a weekend course to land yourself a new gig? For the first level it was literally just a weekend course. You sit in a room with the main referee, you go over the rule book, you go over common scenarios, and you discuss common soccer rules with all of the other students. It’s a pretty fun weekend for a soccer fan to be honest. You finally get to learn what it really means to be offside. Just don’t disagree with a soccer dad unless you’re the ref of the game.
How much do you make with this high paying part time gig?
I only like to speak from experience when I tell you that I enjoyed the job. I guess it helps that I enjoy playing soccer and watching it. The best part at the time was the pay for a young student. The pay depends on the level of the game. Being the greedy young man that I was I always went after the real money making games.
I would try to get double headers. You got paid $22.50 per game for boys under 15 matches. I would get two games an evening an make $45 for the evening. The games weren’t that long, so I was earning $45 for two hours of work and I got to watch some pretty decent games while getting in shape. I would also try to getting as many tournament gigs as possible. When you work a tournament you can make anywhere from $50 to $100 a day. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday as a teenager.
Is this only a student part time job?
Not at all. Students usually ref the matches that are less competitive and the ones with younger players. If you ever watch a more competitive game you’ll notice that the refs are actually older gentlemen with like a hundred years of experience. You can do this part time job at any age.
I started off with my C4 license and I eventually studied and took the test for the C3 license. The higher your qualifications and level of experience, the higher paying gigs that you’ll be able to land. I worked as a soccer referee for four seasons, until I found a higher paying job somewhere else that restricted my evenings.
Working as a soccer ref is a high paying part time job that can also get you in shape. Have you thought about it?
As I’ve mentioned on here in the past you can always start a business right now with no money. If you’re willing to invest a weekend and a few hundred dollars, you can find a part time job that allows you to get in shape and earn money at the same time. Either way, my goal is for you to earn more money moving forward.
(photo credit:nicksarebi)
I wanted to let you know about another well-paying PT that is also sports-related: Teaching swimming lessons.
My folks had a pool and every member of our family taught swimming during the summer. This was back in the 80’s and we had about 10 kids in a class who paid $35 each. Now I’m guessing you could get about $60 at a minimum. You do the math and this is a $60/ hour job…and it’s not that hard to teach swimming.