USA Volleyball Referee Training and Education

I would like to place a situation that in my opinion must increase and improve the level of the quality of the refereeing during a match.

In the case of semifinals in the divisions Open 15′ s 16′ s  17′ s and 18′ s in matches that involve high level of the teams, it would be helpful to have a “real” R2.  On these high level matches, the R1 must have much attention and has much responsibility without the added pressure of an inexperienced R2.  When a doubtful situation happens, it can affect negatively the referees performance.

I believe this will minimize the amount of complaints and will raise the quality of refereeing..

Miscellaneous

In the specific case of the Orlando Sports Center  on one  side of some of the courts, there exists floor differences (concrete and metal).

My question is? Can a player prepare for service and be in contact with either of  these surfaces, since these surfaces are at the  same level as the floor of the courts?

Interpretations-Rules and Techniques, On the Court

This is an outstanding site!  Kudos to those responsible for its development and implementation!!

Miscellaneous

This is a CLASSIC example of a libero hand set violation.

Note that the vast majority of these violations come not from the second team contact from the libero and then the attack, but from some combination of:

a) A longer (and frequently broken) rally
b) the front row player dumping the ball on the second contact (as in this clip)

As is typical , there is much protesting that the player is front row (he is) and the R1 must further explain the call. (Not to mention the fact that the announcers completely missed the call.)

On the Court

SITUATION:

A setter was bad. REALLY bad. She was so bad during warmups that I asked her coach to please ask his setter to tighten up her hands. He responded, “That’s the best she can do. What you see is what you’re going to get.”

So now what? Do I call her hands for the obvious double every time she touches the ball (that’s what the rule book says about that ball handling error)? Or do I let her play so that the other players on both sides could have a match?

MIKE CARTER RESPONDS: 

Before getting to the core of your question… Good for you for watching warmups and seeing the situation. I sympathize with your plight, but approaching a coach with this advice does NOT meet our standards of professionalism. Discuss the situation with your partner, but keep your exchange with the coach (both coaches, for that matter) brief and professional.

Now, back to the dilemma…

Unfortunately, you must call within the framework of the rules. You can use the latest guidelines from USAV Ball Handling Guidelines presented in the 2008-09 clinics.

“Guidelines for overhand passing (setting) actions:

When the setter is in good position to play the ball, excellent contact is expected (with respect to the level of play). (My underline)

When the setter is running or jumping to get a better position to set the ball, the referee should be less severe in judging contact. (A jump set does not equate to an automatic “no call” situation)

If the setter, or other player, is not in good position because he/she has not made an appropriate effort to do so, judgment should not be less severe.”

Basically, you must be fair to both teams. By not calling clearly illegal sets you are not only helping the offender you are penalizing the other team. It is the responsibility of the coach to train appropriately. They also have the option of “bump” setting if necessary. None of us likes to be in this position but we have an obligation for match integrity also.

As an aside, this is when we hope the poor setter is playing with poor passers and we can be more lenient as she must try to handle passes she must move to.

On the Court

SITUATION:

During warm-ups before a girl’s 17s match, my partner made some comments about the attractiveness of players on one of the teams. I was dumfounded. My partner was someone I work with occasionally but don’t know well.

What should I do?

Is there someone I should report it to?

On the Court

SITUATION:

I was R1 at a boy’s 18 tournament. When one team was jump serving, The bench players of the other team was yelling “Jump!” at the top of their lungs. The serving team’s coach was upset and asked me to stop this behavior. I didn’t, but afterwards he was really hot about how it was unsporting behavior. 

MIKE CARTER’S RESPONSE:  

This is strictly a judgment call for the R1. Normally this is not called unless in the Referee’s judgment it is blatantly unsporting and clearly a violation of Rule 20.2.1, “Participants must behave respectfully and courteously in the spirit of fair play, not only toward the Referees, but also towards other officials, the opponents, teammates and spectators.”

The opposing team can claim the right to prepare for a jump serve. A similar situation exists often when the defensive team yells “down ball,” “cross,” or “tip” right before contact of an attacker. There should be no penalty in these situations either, unless as stated earlier there is an obvious, egregious attempt to distract the other team.

A related sport analogy is in baseball when a pitcher attempts a pickoff move, coaches instruct their bench players to yell “back” to make sure the runner returns to their base. This is part of the game.

On the Court

SITUATION:

While the call on last play was being explained to one coach, the other team sent two subs to enter the match.  Upon completion of dealing with the first coach, R2 authorized entry for the first set of subs. He then his attention to the SK and missed the second sub who entered the game (thinking she was authorized since she had been standing outside the sub zone the entire time the R2 was explaining the call to the other coach) and was the server.  Her team won the first rally and she was ready to serve a second time. The SK then notified the R2 of an incorrect server.

How should the situation now be handled?

MIKE CARTER’S RESPONSE:

This is an incorrect server, the player entered without proper authorization.  The lineup should be corrected, the point should be removed and a loss of rally should occur.

How could this situation have been prevented? 

The R2 should ensure the 2nd sub not enter by telling the player to wait for entry until first one is recorded.  Also, the R1 must be attentive and monitor the subs while the R2 is interacting with coach and scorekeeper.  The R1 should have noticed there was no authorization to enter for the second sub and blown a whistle to prevent the sub from entering.

On the Court

SITUATION:

A setter is near the net attempting to set a ball.  The opponents reach over in a blocking motion, but does not contact the ball, but distracts the setter who mishandles the ball as a result.  Is this interference?  Would that judgment be affected by whether the setter was front row or back row? 

MIKE CARTER’S RESPONSE:

Normally, this should not be called as interfering with play.  There may be extreme situations, however, where the blocker’s actions are obviously an attempt to distract the setter, rather than to touch the ball, where a fault on the blocker might be called. Lastly, it does not matter if the setter is front row or back row.

One of the goals of a “commit” block is to influence the setter to send the ball one way or another. Assume the blocker reaches over in an attempt to block, and the setter now decides to try the “impossible” back set, resulting in a mangled ball. Unless it is an obvious reach way over right in the setter’s face, I think an R1 calling this could be facing a CRC (Career Ending Call).

On the Court

COMPARISON OF SIGNIFICANT RULES
NCAA Women’s Rules and USAV Domestic Competition Regulations 2008-2009

Available here »»

Refereeing Resources