Q & A:
Q. I ordered the officiating HS volleyball video. It’s pretty good on fundamentals for protocol. But, I need to see examples of illegal hits. You basically skimmed over that. I am a third year official with this year being my second year of experience and am in desparate need of examples. I have already tried to watch matches and went to scrimmages. Why wasn’t this included more? It is the most important thing coaches and administration look for in hiring officials.
A. Your question is well-taken.
After scripting, filming and viewing literally hundreds of hours of raw footage in order to produce three videos. I can attest, it is virtually impossible for players to purposely commit ball handling errors (or other errors like center line violations or net fouls, etc). Players are not conditioned to commit errors. If slow motion is used almost every contact looks illegal. Zooming in on the hands can be revealing, but it is not realistic because that is not what the referee would actually see.
This is a true situation. Recently in Omaha, Nebraska 40 top collegiate officials were shown 10 live clips of various types of ball handling. They were asked to judge whether each of the contacts were legal or illegal. After all 10 were shown, the clinician asked the officials to close their eyes and raise their hands if they marked at least 7 of the contacts legal. The clinician repeated same question except she asked how many marked at least 7 of the contacts illegal. The results were split exactly 50-50! Similar results happened in Chicago and St. Louis. This speaks volumes about the challenge of showing on a video what is legal or illegal. That is why the high school video you purchased emphasizes judging ball handling as a philosophy. Over-control and under-control are the best ways to determine if a contact is legal or illegal. The
importance in judging ball handling is to “call what you see” and set a consistent line throughout the match. Players and coaches are entitled to have referees call or not call ball handling the same throughout the match. The unique nature of judging ball handling is that we are all different. No two referees are going to call ball handling the same. Therefore to put ball handling scenes in any amount on a video and pre-determine what is legal or illegal in my opinion is counter-productive. On that basis I made the decision to cover ball handling the way it was covered on the video. I hope that helps you understand.
Take care,
Jim Beyer
___________________
Q. Can you help me get his question answered? It is in regard to the center line and stepping on or over the center line (under the net). I thought that your foot CAN be over the line as long as "a part" of your foot is still in contact with the line.In other words, if your toe is across the line and your heel is up, off the line... (your whole foot is then on the other side of the line)...that is wrong. But, if your heel is still in contact with the line... it is okay. Can you please solve this issue with our High School team (parents)?
A. Thanks for the question. I have copied the NFHS rule concerning the center line. It should provide the answer you seek.
Center Line Faults
Player can touch opponent’s court with feet or hands, providing some part of extremity is on or above the center line.
Here’s how I have reasoned it in my mind and might help one to understand. Imagine a center line freshly painted (still wet) white and the square of the opponent’s court freshly painted red. If the entire foot, entire hand or any other part of the body has red paint, it is a center line fault. Now there would be one exception with the foot that comes to mind. If the front part of the foot has red paint and the back part of the foot has white paint or no paint (this is legal yes?), if the player pivots, with
her back to opponent’s court, so the white part is on (turns pink) or above the opponent’s court (red paint) it would be a center line fault. Let me know if this makes sense and thanks again for your question.
_______________________
Q: What is the name of the free substituting player and who keeps track of those substitutions now that they can serve?
A: I think you are referring to the libero (pronounced “LEE – BRO”). Libero means free in Italian. That is what that player is with respect to substitutions. So when referencing the libero we use the term replacement and not substitution. The libero can replace any back row player an unlimited number of times during a game following the rules of the libero. The assistant scorekeeper also known as the libero tracker makes sure the libero is replaced by the same player the libero replaced. When the libero serves both the scorekeeper and libero tracker mark the position with a triangle. The libero may only serve in that position. I recommend you refer to the NFHS Rulebook and Casebook Manual for a sample scoresheet and libero tracking sheet for a visual example. I hope this helps.
___________________________
Q: During the first game in a high school match, the referee blows her whistle and beckons for service. At this point,
the libero from Team A comes on to the court in order to replace a back row player. What is the correct procedure?
A. Blow the whistle as soon as the libero enters the court and charge Team A with unncessary delay.
B. Blow the whistle as soon as the libero enters the court, signal llegal alignment and award a loss of rally/point to Team B.
C. Blow the whistle as soon as the server makes contact with the ball, signal illegal alignment and award a loss of rally/point to Team B.
A: Your question is one of a progressive nature as your possible answers indicate. Here’s what I would do: after the whistle and beckon if the libero can make the exchange before the contact of serve and be in the correct position so if there is no delay of serve or 2nd re-serve, I would allow it the first time. If it happens again, as I have described it, I would blow my whistle and indicate an unnecessary delay. Once the server contacts the ball, there cannot be an unnecessary delay, but rather the potential for a player to be off the court or a player on the court to be out of position. In either case there would be a loss of rally to the serving team. I would encourage you to run this question by your regional or state association rules interpreter for clarification. Your question is very practical. Thank you.
Q: Can the libero have more than 1(one) number for her uniform? One number for the libero jersey and one for a regular jersey?
A: This is a great question!! Here’s my interpretation: I think it matters what level of volleyball is involved. NCAA (College) does not use rosters so the same player can have different #s or the same #s for a libero jersey and regular jersey.
NFHS (high school) requires a team roster so as a name is listed once, one # would be associated with that name whether or not they were a libero or regular player or both. In the Iowa Region, USA Volleyball (club team) rosters are not required so the college concept would apply. Other USA Volleyball Regions may adhere to rosters so they would follow the high school concept. I would definitely seek the interpretation of the authority of the level you are inquiring about specifically. I hope this
helps and I would like to hear back from you on this.
------------------------------------------------
Q: Prior to Team A’s second contact during a rally, Team A’s libero notices that the setter on Team B has left her defensive position in anticipation of a free ball. The libero for Team A is on or in front of the attack line and using overhand finger action sets the ball across the net toward the back corner of Team B’s court.
Once the ball crossed the net or was legally blocked by the opponent, would this be considered a back row attack? (The issue seems to be whether a libero setting the ball over the net while on or in front of the attack line is considered a completed attack.)
A: Great Question!! The key to the answer is where is the ball in relationship to the height of the net? Just because the libero used overhead finger action does not constitute any thing illegal on her part unless, as you expressed, she is on or in front of the attack line and sets to a teammate who attacks the ball which is completely above the height of the net. The libero is restricted from attacking the ball which is completely above the height of the net any where on the court (in front, on or behing the attack line). So you see the libero sending the ball over as you have described is legal and a smart play hitting the open spot.
------------------------------------------------
Q: What are the steps one can take to become a collegiate official and or USAV National official? I am currently a 3rd year HS official and interested in reaching a higher level.
A: I would highly recommend the following: Seek out a well-respected official to act as a mentor. and become involved in a local association. Join PAVO which stands for Professional Association of Volleyball Officials which is the way you will be apprised of the collegiate game.
Join USA Volleyball which entails the club season. Both organizations provide excellent opportunities for training and
advancement. I was in your position about 15 years ago. I wanted to advance from high school to collegiate, so I speak with some experience. As a word of caution, try not to force things along the way. That is, trust the experience of those who will come along side of you. Their honest assessments, whether or not you are ready to advance to the next level, will be invaluable. Also you can see there will be a financial and personal commitment.
Of course I would recommend the videos available on the web-site. Let me add one more thing. Try to get to higher-level matches to observe overall protocol and the roles of the referee (R1) and umpire (R2), the scorekeepers, the line judges, the coaches, players and fans. You have a great advantage already being an established official and what you have
learned in people skills and communication. Good luck and I hope to hear back from you.
------------------------------------------------
Q: Question: I enjoyed your video on federation volleyball. I have a question on the video. You tell line judges to move laterally and the FED tells them to move back to avoid interfering with a server. Is that a difference in thinking across the country? 1 way you give up the endline, the other way the sideline. Thanks for the work!
A: Thanks for your question. The thought now is the referee can instruct the line judge to do either as a matter of preference. My opinion is the endline should be preserved, especially if a server goes far back from the endline as they set up for serve.
On the video the line judge may have gone too far laterally, but that creates a point of discussion. The line judge should only move comparably, if the server is 4-5 feet from the left side of the service zone. If your state requires a certain adaptation, of course you need to adhere to that, so you may want to confirm their interpretation. Hope this helps.
------------------------------------------------