Rule changes – There is not a tremendous amount of changes that will worry anyone – the main changes are in regards to sanctions which I will clarify below with the other minor rectifications – I expect these new rules to apply for the forthcoming SW League season:
- Shirt numbers are now allowed to be from 1-20 in National League matches (please refer to SW or Local leagues for their expectation son shirt numbers)
- The assistant coach can now assume the coaches full responsibilities if they are absent from the game and this is approved by the first referee via the game captain – this includes if the coach has been expelled, gone to the toilet, left the sports hall etc – However, the one exemption is if they are a player coach and they are unavailable to perform coaching duties because they are on the court.
- The libero redesignation rules have been amended so that it becomes extraordinarily difficult and complicated to deny a redesignation – if you know of a team using two liberos (who are particularly accident prone or erratic in performance!) please make time to look up the full explanation of the rules in the FIVB rule book online
- The misconduct rules are now aligned with the Beach rules in that there is an additional stage in warning the team to make it more visible that they have reached an unacceptable sanction level – however if it is bad enough to warranty a penalty, expulsion or disqualification, please proceed the necessary sanctions. The principle of the ruling is to eradicate any issues before sanctions are imposed and its visible to everyone present.
- Time delay warning signals have changed to incorporate the warning with a yellow card over your watch and a red card to signify a penalty (loss of rally and a point to the opposition).
If you require clarification on any of these rulings, please let me know and I’ll do my best to explain – the summary of misconduct and the cards used are as below:
1. Warning: no sanction – Stage 1: verbal warning – Stage 2: symbol Yellow card
2. Penalty: sanction – symbol Red card
3. Expulsion: sanction – symbol Red + Yellow cards jointly
4. Disqualification: sanction – symbol Red + Yellow card separately
Keep Whistling!
Andrew “Po” Potter, RRA for SWVA and National Grade Referee
