USA Volleyball Referee Training and Education

1) Watch this clip.

2) Watch it again and identify what’s wrong.

3) Have a good giggle (and be glad you didn’t miss this one)

What would you have done if you were the R1? The R2?

Now, think about it this way… What would you have done if you were the coach of the team on the far side of the net?

The correct fault that should be whistled (by the R1) is 2 contacts by the setter. There was a BRA, but that occurred after the 2 contacts, as the BRA fault does not occur until the ball is legally blocked or completely crossed the plane of the net. Too bad the R1 missed the call.

The R2 is not empowered to whistle a fault for 2 contacts. He/She can (and should) provide assistance to the R1 on the call. Good refereeing technique calls for discreet assistance from the R2 and then, depending on the situation and the pre-match discussion with your partner, the R2 has a couple options. Either the R2 could step to the sideline to indicate that he/she wants to be invited to discuss the matter with the R1; or, if discussed in advance, simply walk across the court to the R1.

This situation, highlights the importance of a pre-match briefing and good understanding of R1/R2 teamwork. Be sure to conduct a real pre-match briefing and address the question of “What should the R2 do if he/she has important information the R1 needs to know and needs to know now?”

Depending on the situation, there are some circumstances where the R2 might come across the court uninvited; this is probably one of them. We do want to get the call right and we want to demonstrate to the participants that we will work hard to get the call right.

The fact that the attacker is a BR player does give the R2 an opening to whistle THAT fault and get the correct team winning the point. Although as pointed out above, BRA is not the correct call, by the R2 whistling and signaling BRA, it may jog the R1 memory to what has just happened.

Lastly, it is valuable to take a moment and consider the coach/captain/participant view of the play. CLEARLY, the other team committed a rather blatant fault. And it shouldn’t be a surprise for the coach to expect that fault to be called.

On the Court, Video

A reader question… Please chime in with your thoughts.

As far as I can ascertain, the 2009-2011 USAV Domestic Competition Regulations (DCR) does not explicitly state a penalty for a team not following the change of court protocol found on page 179-180, section 8a and on page 120, item #23. I appreciate the recent (2/8/10) DCR clarification (posted at http://usavolleyball.org/pages/6522) that suggests “The second referee should assist during the [deciding set] court change by being on the right-side of [his/her] post and stepping along the net toward mid-court to ensure teams [change courts properly].”

However, just like in rule USAV 24.3.1 found on page 70 of the DCR, doesn’t the responsibility for such action rest ultimately with the captain and/or coach? Even if the second referee does not assist the teams in following the change of court protocol, would it be appropriate for the referees to issue a delay sanction or should an individual sanction be issued to the offending team’s captain for unsporting conduct?

MIKE CARTER RESPONDS:

On the Court

2009-2010 USA Volleyball Techniques, Mechanics, and Procedures for Match Administration

Now available at http://www.volleyballreftraining.net/techniques_pages/2009-10_USAV_techniques.html

and

http://www.volleyballreftraining.com/techniques_pages/pdfs/2009_10_usav_techniques.pdf

Interpretations-Rules and Techniques, Refereeing Resources

The Poll:

You’re R1. Red has just run 5 points. Blue coach gets up as if to make a sub but never gives the signal or actually requests sub. There is a discussion w/R2 that you judge is delaying. What to do?

• Do nothing. The R2 has control over this situation. – 54%
• Blow my whistle several times and get the R2 to recognize that I want the match to resume. — 24%
• Blow my whistle and issue a delay warning to Team B. — 16%
• Blow my whistle and issue a delay penalty to Team B. — 2%
• Something else. — 3%

Nearly 300 votes cast. Bravo. Thanks to everyone who voted.

Some commentary about the situation and the possible options (keeping in mind that every situation is a bit different)…

In general, this is the preferable approach, presuming that your R2 is reasonably competent. Give your partner an opportunity to handle matter as she sees fit.

Certainly, if your R2 is unprepared for the situation, you are wise to intercede. However, if your R2 is at all credible (and the situation isn’t out of hand), the R1 stepping in can undermine the R2’s credibility with both coaches and prevent the R2 from using the tools she might want to use. Depending on the individuals involved, it can also fracture team chemistry.

See comment above, but even more so. Issuing a card “over the head” of your partner makes it much more difficult for your partner to do his job effectively.

See above, but still more fracturing.

Closed Polls, On the Court

You’re the R1. What would you do if this occured on your court?

How bout if you’re the R2 and the R1 didn’t chose the sanction that you’d like to see?

How bout if you were the R1 and didn’t really see what occured?

MIKE CARTER’S RESPONSE

As the R1 is closer than the video and can read the coaches body language a little clearer, I would defer to their judgement on sanction. But absolutely must have a sanction. In USAV, I would have to decide between Yellow Card sanction or Red Card Expulsion based on what I read of the coaches actions.

Although he is seemingly taking his frustration, or attempting to motivate a player, we still have a responsibility to protect the integrity of the game, the same way we protect our partners and ourselves. This is a blatant attack on the game itself. There is no place in volleyball for player abuse.

Although it has no bearing on my decision, I read his comments later, and he claims to be throwing the ball to the wall and she got in the way and that he was upset with the officiating. Fine, then he still earns a card for throwing the ball and showing his displeasure with the officials.

From the R2 viewpoint, (once again) the prematch briefing between R1 and R2 comes into play, both operationally and philosophically.

If I am the R2 and see a finger wag, a yellow or even a questionable look from my R1, I want a conference if I feel we need to escalate the sanction. I would not want to go over just because I saw the R1 reach. I might go to sideline and mouth “yellow” or “red” but if the R1 is doing something, I want it done now in this particular instance.

As R2, if it is clear my partner either did not see or was not fully aware of what happened, I would follow the protocol established in our prematch protocol to get myself to the stand for a conversation.

If I’m the R1 and am not certain I saw the incident clearly, I would be sure to call my R2 over for a QUICK discussion. Also, an R2 conference — “did I just see what I thought I just saw?” — can serve to calm the situation and deliver the message that the officiating team is taking the proper steps to get this call right.

On the Court, Video