1 VS 2 Man Crew

[TravelinMan]

This is my first year officiating HS VB. In our area - Columbus, GA - JV and Varsity games are generally officated with 1 referee, except for state playoffs. Over the last 3 weeks I have worked hard to prepare for calling my first match (JV) on my own (last night) - know the rules, worked several matches with a second experienced official, watched numerous JV/Varsity matches to get to know the game, etc. Still it is a lot to cover for 1 official. My question is whether 1 man crews are the norm in your area, whether they were at one time and if so how you went about convincing the schools to go to a 2 man crew. Luckily for me, I have officiated basketball for the last 8 years so I brought certain skills to the table - strong whistle, crisp mechanics, decisiveness, game management skills, etc. This, hard work and a GREAT mentoring official (if I had a dedicated guy like this in basketball I would have advanced a lot sooner) has gotten me to the state where I feel comfortable on the platform. It is an awesome responsibility however for 1 offical. Thoughts?

[FMadera]

I won't speak for the rest of the country, but...

One man crew? Straight out of the stone ages...

In other words, to say it's definitely not the norm. I've done it when partners haven't shown up, but matches here are always scheduled with 2.

[refnrev]

Nope. Have only seen this in the smallest of small schools. I don't even want to think about it! Yuk!

[Homer]

JV and freshman games are sometimes worked with one official, especially when we do splits - JV and freshman games scheduled simultaneously on adjacent courts \.

State rules though say all varsity matches must be worked by two officials "except in emergency situations".

I can't imagine working a varsity match with only one official.

[MCBear]

We have one official for Freshman matches but for JV and Varsity, the only time we have one official is when our partner fails to show up. (I am not counting the tournaments where we have a player working as our umpire).

[Vb Scrub]

I believe my wife's team plays a tournament in Illinois every year and they only use one ref.

[officialtony]

In Ohio the HSAA states that schools shall use:
* 9th - 1 class 1 or class 2 official
* JV - 2 officials either class 1 or class 2
* Varsity - two officials, the Referee shall be a class 1 and the Umpire may be class 1 or class 2.
With freshman, I have found that one official is not too bad. Also many school systems here use two officials for freshman, even though they are not mandated. The only way Varsity and JV matches are conducted with one official is bcause one official did not show up AND both coaches agree to use the existing offcial. One note here is that a class 2 CANNOT be the Referee in a Varsity match if he is the only official there. He ( she ) risks a sanction and discipline by the State HSAA for doing so. The match must be postponed or another official may try to be reached.
When doing a match alone, I have not used a line-up card to track substitutions and only call alignment violations if they are obvious enough for me to pick up very quick. However, I spoke with a veteran about this a week ago and she uses a line-up card on the ladder to be sure substitutions are done correctly AND to watch for alignment violations. God bless her! I just don't feel like I can do that yet ( 3 year rookie ) and still allow the game to move and flow quickly. I would feel like I am slowing the game down too much. I am probably wrong for this, but see no way ( yet ) to do this smoothly.
I could NEVER have done the Varsity match last night alone. I would have missed so much just because of the pace of the game.
To answer one more of your questions, Ohio has used two officials for JV & Varsity for as long as I have watched/officiated volleyball - which is 6 years. So I cannot tell you how it was lobbied to get two officials at the contests.
Good Luck!

[Andy]

In Arizona, all HS matches (FR, JV, V) are scheduled with two officials. Normally, two officals work all three matches back to back to back. There are some in-season tournaments that use only one official for the preliminary round games. That's up to the school hosting the tournament.

Most of the Jr High stuff is done with only one official until playoff time.

I've been doing VB here for about 15 years and it's always been this way for that time.

[refnrev]

Originally posted by Vb Scrub
I believe my wife's team plays a tournament in Illinois every year and they only use one ref.

__________________________________________________ _________
Vb,
Where in Illinois? And what level? RR

[MCBear]

Tony,

I started officiating volleyball in Ohio in 1983 and we were mandated by the OHSAA to have two officials for JV and Varsity contests and at least one for freshman and JH matches.

When I started, many of the schools used two officials for JH matches because that was where we trained our newer officials. By the time I left Ohio for California in 1993, JH was being officiated by one official most of the time because there were not enough to cover all of the JV and Varsity matches as well as the JH matches (I lived in rural NW Ohio and I never saw a freshman match during the 10 seasons I refereed there.).

[Edited by MCBear on Sep 9th, 2005 at 04:17 PM]

[Vb Scrub]

Originally posted by refnrev

__________________________________________________ _________
Vb,
Where in Illinois? And what level? RR

They play in Quincy. Its a H.S varsity tournament.

[refnrev]

Quincy Notre Dame or Quincy High? I'd have never guessed that they're using one official in schools that size.

[Vb Scrub]

I believe its Quincy High. I have gone with her a couple of times and its not pretty with one official. One official would actually count out the number of hits on her fingers as the ball was being contacted on each side. You know how BB refs will count out 10 seconds by swinging their arms out when the ball is being brought up the court. She would do this for every hit during the match.

[refnrev]

Interesting. A new mechanic that I pray is never adopted!

[imaref]

In most Wisconsin schools, two certified officials are usually assigned for Frosh, JV and Varsity. I say usually, because I have worked in some conferences where the Frosh game is only done with one. This is not the norm.

2 officials are assigned to work both the JV and Varsity games. Another pair of officials work the Frosh game similaneously with the other set as they work the JV game. The Frosh crew, after their match, move up to work the lines for the Varsity contest. These officials receive an extra $10 or $15 for serving as line judges. It makes for a better officiaed game at the varsity level due to experienced VB people on the lines.

[Edited by imaref on Sep 12th, 2005 at 03:38 PM]