Go for it. I was a ref for several years (u10 - u14 usually).
I also coached for several years. All told from the time my first son played his first soccer game until my youngest daughter played her last high school varsity game was eighteen years.
I coached both boys & girls u6 & u7, boys u10 & u12, and girls u19. I enjoyed the boys u12 the most. Girls u19 was fun but the season overlapped with fast pitch softball so it was always a challenge to compete with another sport.
I have four major "dislikes" about soccer. They probably apply to most amateur sports.
1. Being the ref and getting stuck with some bozo linesmen that don't understand the offsides rule. Typically I would quiz them and observe their signals during the first few minutes of a game to determine whether I should use or ignore them.
2. The obnoxious parent(s) who assumed that the act of parking their butts on the sideline to watch little Johnny or Sally play somehow conferred upon them superior knowledge of the game.
3. The loud "win at all cost" coaches who use their position as coach to stroke their own ego.
4. The "do-gooders" who try to enforce the "we don't keep score" mantra on the youngest age groups out of the mistaken believe that developing a competitive spirit is evil. That's really preparing little Johnny and Sally for the real world. On a side note, I have noticed that the kids ALWAYS know who won the game anyway.
Ok, I'll get off my pulpit now.
