Officiating review recommendations update

Volleyball England would like to update members on the progress made on recommendations that followed a review into the state of officiating in England.

First conducted in the summer of 2022, 10 recommendations were made and the latest progress is detailed below.  

  

1) Immediately increase all NVL referee match fees by £10 per person, per match.  

Fees have been updated in line with the proposal for the start of the 2023-24 NVL season and the NVL regulations have been updated to include the new fee structure.  

To mitigate the increased cost to clubs, there was an easing of other NVL regulations, for example teams are no longer required to provide refreshments after the match.  

  

2) Investigate the possibility of increasing the referee’s fee to £50 for a Super League game, partly to incentivise the referee development pathway and partly to recognise their importance of the premium product.  

This proposal will be reconsidered in the future in line with the development of the Super League.   

  

3) Investigate the possibility of creating a central expenses top-up fund, allowing referees to travel further afield to attend matches, without burdening clubs with additional costs.  

A central expenses fund has been created in line with the proposal for the Super League in the first instance. This will come into effect in the 2024-2025 season.  

  

4) Investigate the possibility of a two-tier Grade 4 structure, with 90% of learners moving to a slimmed-down, cheaper product (more in line with their needs and perhaps with a reduced annual membership fee) and the remainder enrolled (as a single learner cohort) on a more comprehensive formal development programme, complete with aftercare, proactive mentoring and a fully articulated progression.  

This proposal has turned into the plan to redesign the referee pathway. A Referee Development Pathway working group has been formed, following an open recruitment process to deliver the project brief.  

The working group members are: Gillian Harrison, Nick Heckford, Glynn Archibald, Debra Smart, Peter Parsons, Domitilla Di Stefano, Roberto Rigante, Alexander Dimitrov, Lenny Barry. Anna Knibbs will provide support.  

  

5) Investigate the purchase of a technology solution (e.g. Veo or Pixellot) that could be used for remote referee observations – but which could also prove valuable to VE in other ways (such as for live streaming and coaching analysis).  

This is still under consideration, but not for the immediate future. 

 

6) Immediately implement a recognition scheme for referees, celebrating time served and/or number of matches officiated.  

The initial proposal to reward referees each season was viewed as unworkable by referee colleagues for a number of reasons:  

1. Although referees make themselves available on the Referee Management System they are not always appointed to matches   

2. Higher Grade Referees do fewer matches in a season  

3. There is uneven opportunity between single headers v triangulars fixtures.  

Referee preferred to see features on social media and the Volleyball England website where Referees contribution to the game could be shared and celebrated, for example The VE International Referee Page  

The Volleyball England Digital and Communications Team have planned regular features, for example Peter Parsons at the European Sitting Volleyball Championships, Paul Whittle passing his International Beach Referee Candidates Course, Roberto Rigante in Referee in Focus and Dee Wauchope becoming a World ParaVolley L1 Technical Delegate.  

There is support for the Volleyball England Bronze, Silver and Gold Pin badges to be reinstated.  

      

7) Investigate providing a showpiece training course to registered referees each year, covering topics relevant to their role, as part of a broader calendar of diarised referee development events (personal development, referee clinics, guest speakers, etc).   

A new online conference format was tried. Feedback was good from those who attended however the event did not attract the wider group. Going forward, an extensive annual programme of CPD has been planned which will be published on the website in August 2024.  

New initiatives launched this season to support referee development include.   

1. Referee Observers Training   

2. Her Call for female referees   

3. Discord for Grade 4 referees    

4. Specialist training for sitting volleyball scorers, line judges and referees during the ParaVolley Europe Silver League aided by a UK Sport grant.  

5. FIVB Empowerment Beach Volleyball Referee Seminar.  

  

8) Investigate the possibility of an agreed annual schedule of referee observation events.  

An annual schedule of referee observation events has been published in line with the proposal. This National Observation and Upgrading Event Calendar is published on a new webpage, which explains the Grade 4 to Grade 3R procedure, how to apply, shares the grade indicators, and new RC6 observation form. The observers have been briefed about the new process.   

  

9) Work with BUCS to raise their minimum refereeing standards (currently just G4 at all but their national finals) and/or insist on referees being registered, not simply qualified.  

The status and development needs of BUCS referees will be considered within the plan to redesign the referee pathway. Discussions are ongoing at the Volleyball England, BUCS Advisory Group meetings to find a solution to BUCs matches being visible to view on the BUCS website. Two new initiatives have arisen from this proposal.   

Find a Fixture – support for referees   

To support referees who may be looking to pick up extra fixtures in the groups below;  

• Grade 4 referees looking for matches at local or regional level   

• Referees looking for matches in the National Volleyball League, National Cup, National Shield or Sitting Grand Prix fixtures?   

• Referees looking to referee at BUCS fixtures?    

Find a referee - support for clubs    

To support clubs including BUCS clubs, looking for a referee.  

  

10) Help to raise the status / profile of referees within the game.  

The proposal has been addressed in a number of ways:   

• Regular referee features on social media and VE news features  

• Event photographs include images of referees as well as players and coaches   

• Securing additional funding for bespoke referee development projects.  

• A new International Referee webpage is planned.