Pros
Im just glad it’s in the past.
Cons
One of the worst jobs I’ve ever experienced by far. From the full-time staff to the players—incompetence and insufferable people all around. I took this job in the summer of 2024 just to make ends meet while working my 9–5. The full-time staff would sometimes insert me to ref or host games just an hour before the event started. Most of the time, they’d call me about potentially covering someone’s shift, but there were multiple occasions when I would check my email or one of the numerous apps they told me to download and find my name listed without being informed. To make matters worse, there were times I brought my own equipment to ensure the games ran smoothly. For a while, they didn’t even provide me with the full set of necessary gear, so I had to improvise. One particular day that still gets on my nerves was when I was hosting a basketball event at Shady Hill School. The assortment of basketballs there was subpar, and since it was a championship game, I decided to use my personal basketball—a Wilson Evolution worth $100. I had informed them in advance that I had some basketballs to bring, and they gave me the okay after I pointed out that the ones stationed at the gym weren’t regulation quality. That ball ended up getting stolen. I immediately reported the theft and expressed my frustration to two full-time staff members. Both assured me that VOLO would reimburse me. However, when I brought it up a third time with someone from management, all they did was tell me to reach out to the teams who played that day and the coworkers who reffed the event—instead of offering the compensation I had been promised, both in meetings and over the phone. On top of that, when I reffed kickball, they didn’t give me all the necessary equipment until the end of the summer. That made the nights especially difficult because I didn’t have a clipboard to tally scores or an umpire tracker to manage the games. Also, the VOLO kickball rules communicated to me weren’t even consistent with how the games were actually played. Apparently, they had made changes to the officiating style before I started, but didn’t relay them properly. Before being assigned to ref, I had to shadow another referee to learn the ropes. Later, a staff member sent me a YouTube video to review, supposedly to help me prepare—but the video was outdated, with rules that no one else was using. That, combined with the lack of proper equipment, made the job needlessly confusing and frustrating. It completely soured my experience of reffing. To make matters worse, I constantly had to deal with yuppies, Karens, and adult babies. Many nights, I wanted to just walk off the field. Players would yell at me and get in my face if a call didn’t go their way, nitpicking every decision either to gain a competitive edge or simply to make my job harder. Mind you—this is kickball. I get that people want to compete and that these games are a social outlet, but at the end of the day, it’s a children’s game. The level of pettiness and hostility was off the charts. I’ve played pickup basketball all around the city and I get the competitive spirit, but never in my life have I seen so much snarkiness and entitlement from a group of adults. One time, three players from one team approached me and tried to pressure me into giving them my email—which was completely out of my comfort zone—just because they didn’t agree with a call I made. If I hadn’t been in a tough financial spot at the time, I would’ve quit that job like a bad habit. VOLO overall has a toxic culture. From the players to the full-time staff, it’s definitely not for everybody. And to be honest, I’m not even sure how much money actually gets donated to kids, despite that being the company’s main mission statement. If you’re not a typical white person, stay far away from this league. Whether you’re joining as a player or working for VOLO in any capacity, in my opinion, it’s not a welcoming environment.