Referee Regional Administrator – Andrew Potter
Allow me to introduce myself – I have been active in volleyball since the mid 90′s and have been a national league player, community coach and most recently a national referee.
My current activities in volleyball are as Chairman of Plymouth Marjon Volleyball Club, Regional Referee Administrator for SW and an active National Grade 1 referee affiliated with Volleyball England.
I have been in post since 2011 as the RRA for the SW and referee development is something that I am passionate about. My job is to try and give people the opportunity to officiate and help referees develop SW volleyball and beyond irresespective of your playing ability. I hope to help people understand that refereeing doesn’t need to be the short straw! It has given me so much since I discovered my limitations in playing the sport I love.
Below is information about the refereeing structure in the SWVA and VE and there is information about what opportunities are available. Feel free to contact me if you are interested. popotter40@hotmail.com
Volleyball England Referee Structure
Philosophy Of Refereeing lies in the concept of fairness and consistency:
to be fair to all participants
to be viewed as fair by the spectators
For further details, including elaboration on most of the grading and struture info below, see the Volleyball England Referee information at:
http://www.volleyballengland.org/getintovolleyball/refereeing
Rules of the game are accessed as follows:
Indoor – http://www.fivb.org/EN/Refereeing-Rules/RulesOfTheGame_VB.asp
Beach – http://www.fivb.org/EN/Refereeing-Rules/RulesOfTheGame_BVB.asp
Sitting – http://www.wovd.info/sittingvolleyballrules.htm
Registration is encouraged for all qualified referees. For the 2012-2013 season, see:
http://www.volleyballengland.org/getintovolleyball/refereeing/contact_us . For any queries regarding registration, please contact the Volleyball England Membership Officer, Kate Rothery on k.rothery@volleyballengland.org or 01509 227711 or with the Referee Development Officer, Holly Fairclough on h.fairclough@volleyballengland.org or 01509 227731.
Administration and assessment of Referees is controlled by the Volleyball England Referee Commission, which supports the appointment of Regional Official‘s Secretaries to arrange courses and promote refereeing on a local basis. The Referee Commission also allocates National Volleyball League (NVL) matches to officials and, through Staff Officials, performs development and grading of officials.
Referee Training
Referee training is managed on behalf of the Volleyball England Referee Commission, through the following:
Training Director – Responsible for overall management, direction and policy for Referee Training.
NVL Assessment Co-ordinator – Responsible for the Referee Assessors and collation of NVL Referee
assessment reports from staff and senior Referees.
National Training Co-ordinator – Responsible for supervising the regional Training Co-ordinators. Also responsible for ensuring the provision of clearly defined continuity of education and training, from initial qualification through to senior levels. The National Training Co-ordinator (Stewart Dunne) welcomes contact from anyone interested in further details about any matters related to Referee Training, both nationally and in the South West.
Regional Training Co-ordinator – Responsible for ensuring that consistent strategies and best practice for Referee training are applied across their region (North, Midlands and South).
Referee Grading Structure:
INDOOR GRADES -
- GRADE 4
- GRADE 3R (Regional – the basic grade of practical refereeing)
- GRADE 3N (National – the basic grade for Referees appointed to the NVL panel)
- GRADE 2
- GRADE 1
- NATIONAL REFEREE
- INTERNATIONAL REFEREE
BEACH GRADES -
- GRADE 4 BEACH
- GRADE 3R Beach (Regional – the basic grade of practical refereeing)
- GRADE 3 VEBT
- GRADE 2 BEACH
- GRADE 1 BEACH
- NATIONAL BEACH REFEREE
- INTERNATIONAL BEACH REFEREE
SITTING GRADES -
- GRADE C
- GRADE B
- GRADE A
Referee Courses and request for upgrades or observations
If you want to get into refereeing, the best start would be to undertake a Grade 4 course in your area or in the SW Region (if you are under 18 you may want to do a Young Referees Award). To find a course, look on the course finder on the VE website or contact your SW Regional Referee Administrator (Andrew Potter) for more details.
If you are an existing Grade 4 referee and you want to be upgraded, please request a grade 2 or above to observe you and fill out an RC6 form reccomending you as a grade 3R.
If you are a grade 3R referee and you want to upgrade to Grade 3N you will need to contact VE about being on the NVL Referee Panel to be given allocations for the forthcoming season.
If you are a grade 3N wanting to upgrade to grade 2 and beyond, please contact the Referee Development Commissioner, Diane Hollows dihollows.volley@btinternet.com for an assessment or the Staff Commissioner: Denis Le Breuilly dleb@psilink.co.uk .
For any other questions on referee development and support in the SWVA area or you are interested in holding a Grade 4 course in your area or to run a Young Referees Award, please contact Andrew Potter.
Referee Registration and Monitoring
To help with the maintenance of accurate records of activity and ensure that matches can be allocated efficiently, all qualified Referees are encouraged to register with the English Volleyball Association annually. In return for registration, Referees will receive regular newsletters and are kept up-to-date with rule changes and other developments. Registered officials also receive a licence/activity card, information on courses and training opportunities and consideration for appointments to NVL matches; they are also covered by a non-contributory insurance scheme.
Referees for the higher divisions of National League are appointed directly by Referee Commission; any Referee wishing to be considered for such games should contact the Commission before the end of April for matches during the following season.
All Referees on the NVL panel may be assessed at any time; Referees at Grade 2 and above may be required to attend special clinics biennially, and may also be required to pass a written examination. Volleyball England officials are expected to abide strictly to the relevant Code of Conduct.
South West Referee Mentoring Scheme
In the forthcoming season (2012/13), the SWVA will be looking for at least one mentor in each county in the SW. There are four key categories that encapsulate the roles a mentor will perform, as follows:
- - Coach (e.g. by showing how to do a task or activity)
- - Counsellor (e.g. by helping the learner to explore the consequences of potential decisions)
- - Networking (e.g. by referring the learner to others when the buddies experience is insufficient)
- - Facilitator (e.g. by creating opportunities for learners to develop and use new skills)
Anyone interested in either being a mentor, or in being assigned a mentor to improve their skills as a Referee, should contact Andrew Potter. (Please note that interested candidates as a mentor should be a Grade 3N minimum).
The SWVA intends to maintain an up-to-date register of active (qualified) but not Volleyball England registered referees in the South West region. Any referees that would like to be included in this list or anyone who notices any errors in the information provided should send their details to Andrew Potter.
