Becoming a Volleyball Official

[OverAndBack]

I do football and have done basketball and have at least one friend who has officiated volleyball in the past. I'm just curious as to what it's like and what the basics are. Is it hard?

[Andy]

Since you have officiated other sports, you have already won half the battle...knowing how to be an official. Now you would just have to learn the sport.

From a purely physical perspective, no VB is not hard compared to football and basketball.

From a mental perspective, it is every bit as taxing, if not more so.

The "basics" are just like any other sports - know and apply the rules, learn and use the proper signals. After that, it's about working games and getting better as a VB official.

I will say that it helps if you have played or coached the game at a competitve level, but I think that may be true for officiating any sport.

I believe you live here in the West Phoenix area, as do I. If you want to talk about this a little further, shoot me a private message. I will be happy to discuss things with you.

[Scrapper1]

Originally Posted by OverAndBack

Is it hard?

I'm a second-year guy and I'll give you my standard answer: Parts of it are incredibly easy, and other parts are impossible.

The in/out calls, the ballhandling, the net calls are all pretty easy, especially if you've played the game. I never played competitively, and I think I already have a pretty darn good handle on ballhandling (except for the 2-hits, which people here have helped me with).

The overlap calls are difficult and back-row calls are impossible, at least for me in my second year. I've been told that I'll start to see these clearly in a few seasons. (Frankly, I don't believe it. )

[Back In The Saddle]

I concur with Scrapper.

[MCBear]

Scrapper gave you the straight scooby-doo. There are things that are very easy and others are going to challenge you to be able to recognize and call them. One thing needs to be made abundantly clear - if you are coming into officiating volleyball because you think it is easy money, don't let the door hit you in the a** as you leave. To do volleyball officiating so that it looks effortless and easy is a task that takes many years to learn and requires study to learn the fundamentals of the game and the nuances that the coaches love to throw at us.

Good Luck! Your attitude toward the game will determine your success or failure. You may have to work harder than you have worked at any other sport...or it may come really easily to you. As they say, it is all up to you.

[refnrev]

As a three sport official who loves doing VB let me add my two cents. It's a great game and a lot of fun to officiate! In many ways I enjoy it most. If you really like VB and want to work hard each game then do it. If you want to do because someone told you it was easy -- they lied. Unlike basketball, soccer, football, etc, you are moving your body as your mind is hard at work to help process things. I find that I am less physically tired, but more mentally tired after VB because of standing and all of the mental processing. Whichever way you choose, best of luck!

[BLS]

I agree with what everyone said above.

I'll add that the nice thing about getting started in volleyball (I just finished my first season) is the number of games you can do in a day to quickly get experience. It's not uncommon to work a Saturday tournament where you can work four matches in a row. That's at minimum eight games in one day that you're able to draw experience from. (You are definitely drained mentally at the end of the day though.)

[MCBear]

BLS, while what you say is true, 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 between 8 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. Contact your local Region about signing up and joining us as a USAV 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.

[OverAndBack]

It just looks interesting and like a challenge.

But I hadn't thought about the fact that I've never (except in PE) played the game, so I don't have a real "feel" for it. I don't know, but that might present a problem.

I got out of basketball because I didn't love basketball and the cost/benefit ratio was all screwy because of that. I don't have a volleyball background, so there's no love for the game or feel for the game that could potentially be a help, so I may just give it a pass.

Thanks for everybody's input, though!

[ASA/NYSSOBLUE]

O&P - I think you are making a mistake! I had never played the game outside of PE/backyard. whatever either. When I started, I could not rven remember the last time I had even seen a match! Heck, I had never blown a whistle before!! As a long time, somewhat jaded softball ump, it has been quite an experience trying to pick up on what this game is all about.

Give it a shot - take the local hs clinic....do a season or two of low level school games, THEN see what you think! The investment in equipment is minimal, so its not like a lot of sports where you would be stuck with a boatload of gear. Most school seasons are an intense month + of matches, so at the very least, you get a nice months worth of fees! I bet you would find yourself enjoying yourself a LOT - the kids are all great, almost all of the COACHES at that level are great. And remember, even if all you ever do are low level school games, its something you can do long past the time you can work the other, more physically demanding sports. I worked with one of our brand new officials this year, and we were chatting before the match, and he said his son had taken the course, but had dropped out. This guy said he yelled at him, telling that exact same thing -"you idiot, you can do this until you are 90!!!"

You HAVE to love a sport where the most you have to replace after a season's work is a whistle, and maybe a shirt....

[Back In The Saddle]

Originally Posted by OverAndBack

It just looks interesting and like a challenge.

But I hadn't thought about the fact that I've never (except in PE) played the game, so I don't have a real "feel" for it. I don't know, but that might present a problem.

I got out of basketball because I didn't love basketball and the cost/benefit ratio was all screwy because of that. I don't have a volleyball background, so there's no love for the game or feel for the game that could potentially be a help, so I may just give it a pass.

Thanks for everybody's input, though!

I was in the same boat, mostly. I only played PE and church league volleyball. But I got talked into trying it. The first season was kind of tough, but only in the same way that a rookie season in any new sport is tough. My second season...I LOVED IT.

The main reason I love officiating is the challenge. Volleyball certainly does not have the same physical challenges as basketball or football. But even in basketball, what I love most is the mental challenge. Can I see everything I should see, recognize what is happening in the moment, properly determine whether it matters, and, if it matters, make the call? All in "real time".

Volleyball has an awful lot of that kind of challenge. Checking alignments will tax your ability to determine spatial relationships. Rotations constantly challenge your ability to track and know if that attacker or blocker was front or back row. Getting the necessary look at ball handling and those pesky pancakes will challenge your ability to anticipate, focus, see the whole play, and react.

Do yourself a favor, and try it. Give it a couple of seasons and see if it doesn't grow on you.