Excellent Cardio program and you get paid to boot

Hi -I am new to this forum but not new to fitness. Probably the best cardio program I know (and you get paid) and also give back to your local community is to be a soccer referee. My message goes out especially to the ladies but just as applicable for men. I played competitive soccer for over ten years -I became a Canadian Professional Soccer Referee 5 years ago because i wanted to get in better shape -the mental highlight of my referee career was not doing high level games or gold medal tournament games even though they are fantastic to referee. it was a game in my third year when i was assigned a women's competitive game that was 18-20 year olds. Thanks to the cardio workouts I got refereeing that season I was able to keep up within 10-15 yards of the play for the entire 90 minutes. At the end of the game when I was doing the paperwork some women came up to me to thank me and I told them I could be their mother because of my age. They didn't believe me I kept saying yes( I was turning 48 that upcoming October). A few minutes later two mothers with their husbands came up to me and asked me how old I was -I told them and one if them looked at me and said 'jeez you're fit' in front of the guys. Well I walked of that soccer pitch 10 feet off the ground and I got paid $50 to do that game.

As a referee you are running more than the average player and you are doing running that is like Fartleks but totally random . In a season I can lose easily 15 lbs and two size and still have a beer and popcorn every night I ref. when I refereed indoor last year just on the weekends during winter and made enough to buy a brand new dishwasher and go shopping at Daniers for a couple of purses and leather jackets

I became a referee instructor two years ago to try to get more women referees for our competitive girls. I am the only woman instructor in the entire district in eastern Ontario . The top Canadian woman referee aind is a FIFa ref and was refereeing in the woman's World Cup in Germany and in the London Olympics lives here.

Being a referee allows me to stay fit, stay involved in the game lose weight and get paid to lose weight

For any of you out there who played soccer think about it -the kids would appreciate it even if you only did it once or twice a week.

Courses are running now across the country at local clubs - think of the cardio and the supplements you could buy with some refereeing cash ...