Becoming a Volleyball Official

[stmaryrams]

Originally Posted by MCBear

... there is an even greater avenue for working more matches and gaining a ton of experience. I am referring to reffing USAV club matches. On a Saturday or Sunday during club season, you will work anywhere 4 to 10 or 12 MATCHES during the day. Although the mechanics are slightly different from NFHS and NCAA, it is still a great way to gain a lot of experience in a very short amount of time. If you choose to referee for a full club season, you will get the equivalent of 4 or 5 years of high school volleyball officiating experience within a 6-month period. ...

After being encouraged by several of my local association members I did just that last year. I was certified to work USAV. Bit of an attitude with the group to begin when finding out I was a high school official. They were all saying it would be harder for me to make the transition.
Honestly, it was not that bad. The reversal of the signals (USAV point, violation to NFHS violation, point) was the most obvious along with net play away from the ball. The bottom line was that as you said I worked a seasons worth of games in a couple of tournaments. Got to see some spectacular volleyball with great players. 6 or 7 games a day at a high level makes you really bring the "A" game. It helped as I got my first HS playoff games this year.