I was 11 when I started reffing soccer. Everyone starts out at the youngest age possible which was pretty much 7 year olds. It's amazing how much parents complain even for kids that young. Normally I really didn't have many complaints but on days when it would rain all the kids would want to slide and get muddy. There really isn't much I can do if they are doing that while not breaking the rules. The parents wanted me to make them stop because it was dangerous. I did that for almost 3 years and oddly enough my last game was in the rain with tons of complaints. My first real job was in the restaurant at Silver Spring Country Club. I started at 14 as a dishwasher and after about 6 months I moved up and did other things like cut meat out in the restaurant for people on weekday parties, Fridays I fried fish, Saturday I put together and made some of the food for the Sunday brunch, and Sundays I either kept the brunch buffet line full or made omelets. I ended up working there for two years and looking back I wished I would have taken advantage of the free golf more often.