Really?
Sometimes I wonder why I even bother to pursue referee positions in tournament play. I spend year after year busting ass to be the best in my league, in my region, in my sport. I get kudos from the home team, the local teams and the teams from other ends of the country. I push hard for the improvement and legitimazation of the sport of roller derby. Years go by and I constantly get looked over for positions in tournaments. This year, I fight tooth and nail to qualify and ensure that I go. I get the top score on the national exam for our league. I'm the first to respond to the calls for refs. I make sure my resume is top notch yet free of ego. I FINALLY get invites to both regionals and nationals... both for (important but frankly, shitty) non-skating positions like penalty timing. Meanwhile, refs with half the experience that I have (who are very talented, and many are part of my own crew, but nonetheless lower on the ladder than myself - I am the most senior acting ref in the Pac NW by an enormous stretch over anyone but Barry M. Later who is still "younger" than I) get presented with fucking skating positions. I feel like I'm beating my head against some kind of wall of politics that somehow I was instrumental in creating but don't even understand. Who else's ass do I really have to kiss? How many more forums do I have to post in? What other committees do I have to participate in to get the recognition I feel like I have earned at this point? I know this is a stereotypical capricorn rant but my soul is reaching it's limit of wearyness at the moment.