A year of firsts
 

This has been a really odd year so far for me. Among the firsts that I have encountered so far:

• Varsity match, me as R1 with spectators at my back. I scan the court, signal for serve, and find the server simply staring across the net. I glance over to R side to see a young man walking, casually, diagonally through the middle of R team's court. He walked all the way over to the scorer's table, had a short conversation with the table and my partner, and was ushered off to the side. Found out later he was inquiring as to how many "games" we were playing.
• Two different partners who showed up in shorts for middle school matches. Perhaps it's allowed elsewhere, but not in Indiana. I know it's not a high school match, but I didn't really appreciate it.
• Varsity tournament, had two separate players during two separate matches being injured and having to start an injury clock. Luckily the first time it happened my brain kicked in to gear and I had the timer start a 30 second clock right away.
• From my other recent thread, a partner using a phone app in lieu of a lineup card. I will admit that I know I must have had a terrified look on my face when he first pulled it out right before the match started, thinking he was taking his phone up with him on the stand!
• A coach questioned me after I called one of his players for being in the net away from the play. She actually stuck her fingers through the net and grabbed it lightly as the other team was playing their first pass. Coach said it was incidental contact and not a violation. Again, luckily I've read enough on the NFHS board to know she was thinking USAV rules and I set her straight.
• Me as R2, had my R1 come down off his stand during a timeout at 24-23, deciding he was going to reverse his call from about three points previous, and insisting he wanted to do it even after I reminded him that the rules didn't allow him to do that. I won't even get in to the CF that followed as we tried to get the correct score, correct server, and correct rotation. Luckily this was a MS match.
• Worked the lines for a varsity match after doing a freshman match. I enjoyed that a lot.
• Worked a cancer awareness match (that my partner and I were unaware was happening) and now find myself in possession of a pink whistle with a pink ribbon "lanyard".

Still have about a month to go. Let's see what more fun things can pop up!

My "first" came yesterday. I was R1 for a varsity match that went 16-14 in the 5th set. That was a first. After the match a parent from the losing team came to me at the table and said it was the best officiated match they'd had all season. That's also a first for me in volleyball.

I always take parent comments, good or bad, with a grain of salt; but it was nice to hear anyway. I kind of hope it's not true, though. What does it say about the rest of my board if the best match of that team's season was turned in by a 3rd year guy? :confused:

Another first for me tonight. Player from Team A sends the ball over the net, heading out of bounds. Player from Team B starts to chase the ball, obviously unaware that the ball is going to be out. Her teammate physically grabs her around the waist to prevent her from chasing and playing the ball. Never saw that one before.

Forgot one previous first, when a team reached their limit on subs. Never had that happen before.

From last night, two more firsts. Home team didn't have a score book, and were hoping visiting team would have one. Of course they didn't, so somebody brought out a few sheets of paper and the "scorekeepers" (had a different one for each of the two matches) kept just a running tally of the score along with subs. I was pleased with myself when I recognized an illegal substitution was about to happen, just a little before my partner caught it and straightened it out. Also, my partner informed me that he wanted me to be R1 for both matches, as he liked to walk around during the match.