Refereeing

Referee Regional Administrator – Andrew Potter

This page is out of date but will give you back ground information.

Below is information about the refereeing structure in the SWVA and VE and there is information about what opportunities are available.

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

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.

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.

Whos The Ref?
Since 2012/13 season, referee allocations to all competitions managed by Volleyball England have been facilitated by whostheref.com. This has helped revolutionise the way referee appointments are managed and is a step closer to a more paperless system.

2013/14 season is introducing an online RC7 observation form where the senior referee (i.e higher grade) at a match will submit an online observation of the other referee in attendance (If the referees are the same grade, the 1st referee will observe the 2nd referee). This is very much in its infancy at present but I would encourage you all to use it as much as possible.

There is also scope for a way of self assessing your performances online too – I will keep you informed as to when this may be available. This should hopefully increase the amount of feedback everyone gets each season as opposed to the old system of having an observation if your lucky enough to have an assessor in attendance at your match.

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.

Referee Uniform
In the 2013/14 season, VE referee commission have decided to change the uniform as well as the badge on the approved shirts. These are available at kitlocker.com/ve-referees-clothing – Whilst everyone is encouraged to get the new shirt complete with the new logo, VE understand the financial commitment involved for all registered referees. Therefore, for the 2013/14 season only, VE expect all Grade 2 and above referees to have the new shirt and referees officiating Division 1 and Super 8 games must have the new shirts.

In the 2014/15 season all referees active in the NVL must use the new shirt.

The full uniform should be:

  • VE Dark Blue Polo Shirt with VE referee badge
  • Dark Blue trousers or Errea Magic tracksuit bottoms (Cargo pants, Jeans and other types of tracksuit bottoms are not acceptable)
  • White socks
  • Predominantly white shoes

South West Referee Mentoring Scheme

In the forthcoming season (2013/14), the SWVA will be looking for at least one mentor in each county in the SW wherever possible but my recommendation would be for any NVL Panel referees should look to encourage others in their area to join them at NVL matches and gain confidence by getting involved with the scoring or linejudging or just observing you officiating at a National Level match.

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.