I'm in a bit of an unusual position, and I'm hoping to get some candid advice from this subreddit.

I'm 31, based in Texas, and just (re)certified at the Grassroots level. I started refereeing when I was 13 on the old Grade 9 badge and stuck with it for five years (up to Grade 8) before going off to college/law school/practicing law. Despite letting my USSF certification lapse, I have continued to referee continuously in intramural/indoor/unaffiliated competitions -- some at a very high level. I ref some semi-pro indoor leagues and the men's leagues that those semi-pro guys play in as practice for their semi-pro games.

My playing days are winding to an end (sick of saving shots with my face, mostly) and I want to pivot back into officiating as my "main" soccer pursuit. At this point, I'm a bit lost in the possible paths forward and I'd like some steer.

I'm certified USSF Grassroots and also TASO (high school) as of like two weeks ago. I have not had much luck tracking down assignors so I've yet to have any "official" games.

My goal is to ref the highest level games that I can before I age out of consideration. Am I better off focusing on high school and feeding that into college games? Or should I go the USSF route and spend a season working youth/AR'ing adult games?

Plz help I would like to make the best use of my time :)