VOLLEYBALL

A LOT MORE COLORFUL

NFHS Allows Officials More Uniform Options

One of the major rule changes for NFHS volleyball this year allows officials to wear blue or gray shirts. Camille Valenzuela, Commerce, Calif., works a match while wearing the blue shirt.

By Brad Tittrington

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NFHS Volleyball Rules Committee conducted its annual meeting Jan. 10-12 in a virtual setting and recommended three rules changes that were subsequently approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.

Those rule changes specifically address officials’ uniforms, religious headwear and the penalty for late submission of lineups.

“The changes that were made this year really reflect the state of the sport,” said Lindsey Atkinson, NFHS director of sports and liaison to the volleyball rules committee. “Volleyball participation continues to grow and the annual questionnaire continually reflects the satisfaction coaches, officials and administrators feel with the decisions made by the NFHS Volleyball Rules Committee. The three changes passed by the committee were important changes to reflect both societal and sport specific trends.”

Below are the rule changes in perceived order of importance.

Officials’ Uniform 5-3-1a; 5-3-1 NOTE

The committee amended rule 5-31a, which now allows officials to wear a white, blue (cyan) or gray collared shirt, as determined by each state association. Previously, a white shirt was required. Officials must dress in like colors in order to maintain uniformity and states may choose to have white as the default color for officials. The rule change, however, gives state associations, and therefore officials, more color options.

“Several states were already allowing some combination of the colors available to NCAA officials,” Atkinson said. “The decision to allow state associations to determine the color options was an important

distinction in the implementation of the rule. The committee did not want to place a financial burden on officials, especially those in states with limited competition in 202021. Allowing states to determine the color(s) of the officials’ uniform will allow local decisions based on current trends while providing two additional options.”

The rule still allows state associations to make a temporary adjustment to the officials’ uniform to accommodate varying conditions within the competition facility, provided those accommodations adhere to the colors stated in 5-31a and 5-3-1b. Those modifications may include allowing an official to wear a sweater if the conditions are exceptionally cold or wearing shorts if the conditions are exceptionally warm.

Play 1: The officials arrive to the playing facility and one official wants to wear a blue (cyan) collared shirt and one wants to wear a white collared shirt. Ruling 1: Officials must wear colors that are alike. The officials must match whether or not the state association allows officials to wear the blue (cyan) or gray collared shirt.

Play 2: On an exceptionally hot day, the officials arrive to the playing facility and notice the air conditioning is not working inside the gymnasium. Both officials would like to wear black shorts because of the warm temperatures. Ruling 2: Provided the state association allows for the officials to wear shorts, they may since they meet the color requirements.

Late Lineup Submission 7-1-4 PENALTIES; 9-9-1b

Last year, the rules committee changed the penalties regarding late roster submissions. This year, the committee went one step further and changed the penalties for late lineup submission to align with the late roster submission penalties. Failure to submit a written, accurate numeric lineup to the second referee no later than two minutes prior to the end of the timed prematch warmup results in an unnecessary delay/ administrative yellow card at the start of the set. If the lineup has not been submitted by the end of the timed prematch warmup, an unnecessary delay/administrative red card shall be assessed to the offending team at the start of that set.

If, prior to sets two through five, a written, accurate numeric lineup is not submitted to the second referee no later than one minute remaining in the timed interval (or intermission, if used) an unnecessary delay/administrative yellow card is assessed. If the lineup is not submitted by the end of the timed interval (or intermission), an unnecessary delay/ administrative red card shall be assessed to the offending team at the start of the set.

In the past, at the two-minute mark of the prematch warmup or at the one-minute mark of the interval or intermission between sets, failure to supply a lineup automatically resulted in a loss of rally/point being awarded to the opponent. The rationale is this change lessens the severity of the penalty for a late lineup while aligning it with the penalty for a late roster submission.

“In addition to the appropriateness of the penalty, it also allows officials to build a rapport with coaches and open lines of communication without the harshness of penalizing with points before the match or set begins,” Atkinson said. “One of the points of emphasis this year is ‘Coach and Official Communication’ and key to that is working together to ensure smooth administration of the match.”

Play 3: With the clock showing (a) 1:59, or (b) 0:00 remaining in the prematch warmup, team A has not submitted its written lineup to the second referee. Ruling 3: In (a), the second referee notifies team A’s coach that the team will be assessed an unnecessary delay/ administrative yellow card at the beginning of the match. The second referee ensures the delay warning is recorded in the comments section on the scoresheet. The first referee indicates the delay warning before beckoning for serve to begin the match by showing a yellow card on

BY THE NUMBERS 3

The number of states that will sanction high school girls’ beach volleyball during the spring 2022 season. In February, the California Interscholastic Federation Federated Council voted unanimously to approve girls’ beach volleyball to its roster of sports for the 2021-22 school year. California joins Arizona and Florida as the only states sanctioning girls’ beach volleyball. Florida announced in 2020 it would start playing during the 2021-22 school year as well and Arizona began competition in the spring of 2012.

DID YOU KNOW?

The NCAA announced all rounds of the 2020-21 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship will be held in Omaha, Neb., in April this year due to the COVID19 pandemic. The University of Nebraska and Metropolitan Entertainment & Convention Authority were already set to host the semifinals and final at the CHI Health Center, but the Division I Competition Oversight Committee approved a proposal to have all 48 teams selected for this year’s tournament to play every round in Omaha.

SIDELINE

FIVB Rule Changes

In February, the FIVB (the international governing body of volleyball) announced rule changes for 2022. They include allowing the libero to be a team or game captain; allowing a substitute to replace a player removed due to expulsion or disqualification, even if the team has used its six allowable substitutions; removing an allowance that the ball can be recovered by the team over the scoring table, but only on the half of the table that is on its side of the court; and allowing simultaneous contact by the blocker and attacker on the attacker’s side of the net.

TEST YOURSELF

In each of the following, you are given a situation and possible answer(s). You are to decide which answer(s) are correct for NFHS, NCAA or USAV rules, which might vary. Solutions:

p. 81.

1. In the first set, A3 receives a red card penalty for arguing judgment calls. In the second set, A3 once again argues with the first referee about a ballhandling decision. What is the correct decision? a. Individual yellow or red card at the discretion of the referees. b. A3 is expelled from the set and loss of rally/point awarded to team B. c. A3 is expelled from the set and there is no loss of rally/point awarded to team B. d. A3 is disqualified from the match and loss of rally/point awarded to team B.

2. Which of the following team jersey combinations is illegal? a. The libero and her teammates are all wearing solid-colored jerseys. The jerseys clearly contrast in color. b. The libero is wearing a multicolored jersey and her teammates are wearing solid-colored jerseys. The solid-colored jersey clearly contrasts with the predominant colors on the multi-colored jersey. c. The libero and her teammates are all wearing multi-colored jerseys. Neither jersey contains any of the predominant colors of the other jersey. d. The libero and her teammates are all wearing multi-colored jerseys. The two jerseys contain the same predominant colors, but in different patterns. e. All of the above are legal.

3. At the conclusion of the match, the first referee signs the scoresheet to verify the final results. a. True. b. False.

4. Which of the following actions is illegal when the ball is completely on the opponent’s side of the net? a. Blocking a ball simultaneously with the opponent’s attack-hit. b. Blocking a ball after the opponent’s attack-hit. c. Blocking a ball that is falling near the net when no member of the attacking team can make a play on it. d. Blocking a ball after the opponents have completed their three hits. the wrist on the side of the offending team (team A). In (b), the second referee notifies team A’s coach the team will be assessed a subsequent unnecessary delay/administrative red card at the beginning of the match. The second referee ensures the delay penalty is recorded in the comments section on the scoresheet. The first referee indicates the delay penalty before beckoning for serve to begin the match by showing a red card on the wrist on the side of the offending team (team A). Team B will be awarded a point and will serve to start the match.

Religious Head Coverings 4-1-6

The final rule change amends rule 4-1-6, which notes that head coverings worn for religious reasons are not considered hair devices. The rule means state association approval of religious headwear is no longer required. However, head coverings still must be made of non-abrasive or soft material and fit securely. Head coverings worn for medical reasons, however, still require state association approval.

“Historically, state associations have wanted to approve of any item worn that fell outside of the approved uniform for the purposes of risk minimization,” Atkinson said. “The unintended consequence was that anyone wanting to maintain the traditions of their religion would have to, in essence, ask for permission.”

Last November, a student at a high school in Nashville, Tenn., was disqualified from a match due to the lack of paperwork necessary per NFHS rules to compete.

According to Atkinson, the NFHS Volleyball Rules Committee reacted by proposing all NFHS sport rules committees present language specific to that sport to eliminate the waiver requirement for religious headwear. The NFHS Board of Directors agreed. Volleyball became the first sport to approve the new language and Atkinson hopes no other studentathlete has to feel the humiliation of being singled out due to religious beliefs.

Play 4: During warmups, the officials notice a team A player wearing (a) a hijab, (b) a yarmulke, or (c) a helmet made of polyethylene foam. Ruling 4: Legal in (a) and (b), provided the religious headwear is made of non-abrasive or soft materials and fits securely. In (c), the helmet is worn for medical reasons. The player must have state association approval in order to wear the helmet during the match.

Points of Emphasis

In addition to the rule changes, the committee also came up with four points of emphasis for the 2021-22 season: line judge basics; coach and official communication; state association adoptions — team benches; and addressing uniform concerns.

Line judges. There is a lot of inconsistency in who schools secure to work as line judges. They could be paid officials, paid adults from the school, unpaid volunteers or players who have either already played or are waiting to play the next match. The committee felt it was important to remind officials to go over the basics with line judges prior to each match in order to communicate expectations as well as to start the match with everyone on the same page.

Communication between

officials and coaches. It is important to have open lines of communication between officials and coaches. This starts during the pregame and continues throughout the match. Officials should introduce themselves to the coaches before a match, but also must be cognizant not to spend too much time with one coach over the other, which may give the perception of familiarity. During the match, it is important for officials to listen to coaches and a good second referee can use good communication to defuse any potential situations. After the match is over, the second referee should sign the scoresheet, gather all officials’ belongings and meet the rest of the crew at a predetermined location. There should be no discussions with coaches, fans, etc., after the match.

Team benches. A rules consideration for the 2020-21 season — the elimination of rotating benches

between sets — was universally well received and the committee chose to make the communication of this state association adoption a point of emphasis for this season.

Uniform concerns. Uniforms are constantly evolving and the committee wants there to be consistency enforcing the uniform rules and communicate ways to avoid penalties. Know the rules regarding manufacturer’s logos, numbers and style of uniform bottoms. Officials should make every effort to notice uniforms that violate the rules prior to the match. An official should notify the coach of the offending team and give him or her an opportunity to fix the issue prior to the match. If the issue cannot be fixed and a team does not have six players wearing legal uniforms, the match still occurs. A loss of rally/ point is awarded to the opposing team at the beginning of the match and the state association is notified to help correct the situation. The goal is to have two teams compete and allow state offices to correct the issue. Brad Tittrington is an associate editor for Referee. He is a collegiate and USA Softball umpire. He also officiates women’s college and high school basketball, high school volleyball and high school football. *

Be a Sub Above

By Marsha Goodwin North

While referees have several responsibilities during a match, most of these duties take place in the heat of the action — on the court. However, one of those responsibilities happens when the ball is out of play — substitution requests. Although substitutions are an interruption of play, in no way should the process delay the match or take so long as to disrupt the flow of the match. It is paramount that the second referee handle this process diligently and efficiently.

Knowing the intricacies of substitution will prove to be invaluable and an indispensable part of a referee’s tool bag.

Why might a substitute be

needed? Lineup issue — prior to the start of a set, it is discovered there are duplicate numbers. A substitution is used to correct the starting lineup if the duplicate number is to be the libero; lineup issue — a team submits a lineup that has a starting number no team member is wearing. The team must substitute a player wearing

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• Caseplays covering all the nuances of • Caseplays covering all the nuances of the libero position to help you make the libero position to help you make fast, correct decisions. fast, correct decisions.

learn more STORE. /VOLLEYBALL

CASEPLAYS

Net Cable Contact

Play: After attacking the ball, A11 loses her balance and touches the net cable between the net and the net post. The first referee allows play to continue. Ruling: This is correct for NCAA and USAV. Under these two rule codes, contact with the net cables is not a fault provided the contact doesn’t interfere with play (NCAA 15.2.1.2; USAV 11.3.2). In NFHS, this is a fault and should be whistled immediately. It is a fault to touch any part of the net, including the net cables (9-6-7a).

Line Judge Interference

Play: As a team A player pursues a teammate’s errant pass, a line judge makes contact with the player and knocks her off balance. The player is unable to play the ball, which falls to the court. Ruling: In all codes, if the referees determine the player had a legitimate opportunity to play the ball had the line judge not interfered and the team still had a team hit remaining, a replay should be awarded. If the referees determine the player would not have been able to play the ball or the team had no team hits remaining, a loss of rally/point should be awarded to team B (NFHS 9-8-1f-1; NCAA 4.2.4; USAV 8-4-2f, 17.2).

Third Contact Hits Ceiling

Play: Team A’s third team hit contacts the ceiling, approximately 20 feet above the playing area and directly over the center of the court, and then continues over to team B’s side of the court. The first referee allows play to continue. Ruling: Incorrect in all codes. In NCAA and USAV, if a team’s third hit contacts the ceiling or any obstruction after the hit, it is dead and a loss of rally/ point is awarded to the opponent (NCAA 4.2.3.2.3; USAV 8-4-2b-4). In NFHS, a ball only remains in play after contacting an overhead obstruction or the ceiling if it contacts the ceiling or obstruction on the side of the net extended that is occupied by the team that last played the ball, and the ball is legally played next by the same team. Since it was team A’s third team hit, it can’t make a legal fourth contact and the ball should be whistled dead once it hits the ceiling (2-2).

A

a legal number; during the team’s normal rotation, the middle rotates to the back row triggering a substitution by a defensive specialist, and vice versa; passing formation adjustments are not working; one team has a run of points and the coach does not want to use a timeout or is out of timeouts; it is Senior Night — all seniors are playing and might be subbed out at any point during the set; an injured player cannot continue playing; blood is found on a player’s uniform — the player cannot change in a reasonable amount of time; or a player is disqualified.

Where does the substitution take

place? The substitution must be carried out within the substitution zone (the area between the imaginary extensions of both the attack line and center line, the sideline and the scorer’s table.

Substitutions must happen while the ball is out of play and before the authorization for serve. All rules codes follow the same procedure for handling a substitution request during a timeout or if the substitution is requested during the same dead ball as a timeout request. It is administered at the end of a timeout after the team(s) has returned to the court.

Who can request a substitute?

A coach or playing captain (only NCAA and USAV) may request a substitution either verbally or using the appropriate signal for substitution. An incoming substitution entering the substitution zone is considered a coach’s substitution request. Multiple players can substitute during the initial substitution request. The substitutions must be made in succession, one pair of players after another, but only one substitute may enter the sub zone at a time, as shown in PlayPic A.

The substitution must be completed immediately without delay. If the player(s) is not ready, the substitution(s) is not granted, and the team is sanctioned for a delay.

How is a substitution

administered? The second referee authorizes and handles the substitution process by whistling and signaling for substitution (as shown in PlayPic B), authorizing the substitute entry to the court, and confirming the substitution with the scorer. As of 2020, all rules codes use the same hand/arm signal and whistle technique.

During club volleyball, high school preseason play or because of a shortage of officials, the first referee might be working alone. Under these

B

circumstances, the referee should explain to the coaches and captains the substitution procedure to be used. Let the scorer and libero tracker know they will be given the time needed to get the substitutions recorded correctly so they should not indicate that they are ready to resume until they are truly ready. This helps to avoid illegal substitutions.

Players in the starting lineup may leave the set and re-enter, but only in their previous position in the lineup. If a substitute attempts to enter in the wrong position, the substitution is illegal. If a substitute attempts to enter and the entry would result in an excess team substitution, the substitution is illegal (NFHS allows 18 team substitutions per set, NCAA permits 15 per set and USAV allows 12 per set).

Should a player be found illegally on the court (an illegal substitute discovered in the set), he or she must be replaced by a legal player.

An exceptional substitution is permitted for an injured or ill player when no other legal substitute is available, or a team has exhausted its limit of substitutions. An exceptional substitution is not counted as a team substitution in NCAA and USAV, but under NFHS rules, an exceptional substitution is counted if the team has not exhausted its 18 team substitutions.

The injured player is not permitted to re-enter the set and is replaced in the following priority by: the starter or substitute who has played in the position of the injured player or by any substitute who has not already participated in the set; any substitute player on the bench regardless of previous position played; the libero.

Since volleyball is a game of tempo and momentum, maintaining that tempo is vital. By understanding all facets of substitution, referees will gain confidence in their abilities to ensure that any legitimate “pause” to the flow of the match is but a “minor” interruption of play. Marsha Goodwin North, Cleveland, Tenn., is an NCAA official, former USAV official and state supervisor of officials for the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association. *

5 MINUTES WITH JO AUCH

Assistant executive director for the SDHSAA discusses first year as NFHS Volleyball Rules Committee chair.

Residence: Pierre, S.D. Experience: Currently in 13th year as an assistant executive director for the South Dakota High School Activities Association (SDHSAA). Responsible for girls’ volleyball, competitive cheer and dance, boys’ and girls’ tennis, boys’ and girls’ basketball, girls’ gymnastics and sideline cheer. Responsible for licensing, supervision and training programs for officials. Prior to SDHSAA, was an educator and athletic director for 26 years. Coached high school volleyball, basketball and track and field, and officiated basketball and volleyball. Has served on the NFHS Volleyball Rules Committee since 2016 and is currently in her first year as chair. Also serves on the NFHS Spirit of Sport Committee.

REFEREE: How did you feel your first year went as chair?

AUCH: I had served on the committee four years prior to, so I had a pretty good understanding of what the committee was all about. Serving as chair is a little different. You’ve got a little more responsibility to keep things moving. The tough part, we all know that being in person is so much better than having to do something over Zoom. I was very, very proud of our committee in the means in which they took the bull by the horns and we just got things done. I can’t say enough about the committee. I can’t say enough about the leadership that we have from the NFHS. I thought for the first time of doing it, we did OK. We did really well as a matter of fact. I am happy with that.

REFEREE: With the pandemic, how important was it for the committee not to add any extra burden to the schools this year?

AUCH: I think that was a main focus that we had talked about early on, that we wanted to make sure that everything that we did was not going to financially impact our schools, our memberships and things of that nature. I thought we did a really nice job of keeping that in mind and reining it in so there wasn’t going to be any additional cost to our schools or to our memberships. No huge decisions that they’re going to have to make to combat anything we did as a committee, so I was very proud of us in that respect.

REFREEE: How is the committee trying to get matches started off on a good note?

AUCH: Last year, we did some kinder, gentler things, so to speak, with our rosters, so it made perfect sense that if we were going to treat the roster one way, that we treated our lineups very similar. So, to try and bring things into a balance where that was concerned, we took a good, hard look at it. No official likes to stand there and give a loss of rally or a point to the opposite team to start. That’s just not a great way to start a match. Anything that we could do to help that just simply made sense.

REFEREE: Where do you feel the game of high school volleyball is at right now?

AUCH: I feel really good about where volleyball is at. We’ve made some minor changes to kind of get us more in balance with some of the things we are trying to accomplish in that kinder, gentler means. I don’t think we are looking to make changes that are going to be outlandish, that are not going to put us in other rule codes as we move forward as well. Obviously, we are still high school, and we feel our high school game is our high school game. We look at other rule codes as well every year and try to be as similar as possible, but that is not our main goal. Our main goal is to make sure that we provide opportunities for kids at the high school level and make sure that the game is moving forward in the direction and keeping up with the current trends that we have as we move forward. The people that served on this committee well before me have done an excellent job in getting us where we are so we don’t have to make major adjustments to volleyball every year. We look at things that can improve the game and hopefully help us in the long run.