VOLLEYBALL MEMO #3

OCTOBER 1, 2007

There are only a couple weeks remaining in the regular season---hard to believe how fast the season has flown by. Tournament pairings were posted two weeks ago. The district and regional official’s assignments are in the mail. Listed below are several items and situations which we have received calls on during the past couple weeks since the last memo.

LIBERO TRACKER---There must be a libero tracker at the scorer’s table. It is not permissible for the tracker to sit on the team bench.

CHEWING GUM---There is nothing in the rulebook to prohibit a player from chewing gum during competition.

GLITTER---RULE 4-1-7 states “players shall not wear body paint or glitter on their hair, face, uniform, or body”. It does not matter how it is manufactured or worn---it is ILLEGAL.

BEADS---Beads are illegal when worn in the hair. Similarly, beads are illegal when worn in the shoelaces---for safety reasons.

LINE-UP SHEETS---It amazes me but we continue to have problems with coaches filling out the line-up sheet correctly but officials are inaccurately penalizing teams anyway. If the receiving team, the first player listed shall be the RF player since she will be the first player to serve for that team. Line-ups are submitted according to the SERVING ORDER!

LIBERO REPLACEMENT---When being replaced, the libero must sit out one rally unless moving directly to the serving position. When forced to rotate to the front row the libero cannot just replace another back-row player without sitting out one rally. The only way she can remain in the game is to replace the server and move directly to that position.

LINE JUDGES---The line judges do not have the ability to issue yellow or red cards. If a line judge observes or hears something he/she deems unsportsmanlike, he/she should report the action to the referee and allow the referee to determine if any sanction is required. Remember that under normal circumstances, the referee should issue card sanctions.

REPLAY---RULE 9-8-1 e---indicates a replay may be declared when there are conflicting calls which the referee cannot resolve. This will typically be determined after the play is blown dead and the two officials have an opportunity to confer.

SPECTATOR CONTESTS---A number of schools allow fans to serve for prizes in between games by attempting to hit a pizza box, etc. This may be done during the regular season but should not delay the proper start of the next game. These contests shall not be permitted during the district and regional tournament.

SCOREKEEPING PROCEDURES---Apparently there is a difference between scorekeeping methods used in club and Junior High/High School competition. We require the National Federation procedures be used in which a number is written down for every point scored. It is not permissible to indicate multiple points scored by issuing a number (for example—writing down a 5 after five points have been scored---each point must be listed individually.)

SERVE---It is illegal to block a serve---Rule 9-6-5.

CROWD NOISE---In the spirit of today’s competitive game, crowd noise has become an accepted part. There is still a fine line between appropriate and inappropriate spectator behavior. In today’s game, the “1-2-3” cheer or the “bump, set, spike” cheer is readily accepted. The days of expecting total quiet while a player serves are long gone. I guess this would be comparable to shooting a free-throw in basketball with one second left and a tie game or a 4^th down and one yard to go in the fourth quarter of a football game. Calling the opposing player by her name or number, yelling specific sayings like “miss it”, or being rude or making fun of the server are unacceptable and should be stopped. But just pure crowd noise, cheering, etc. are normally OK unless deemed to be unsportsmanlike.

MEDICAL SUPPLIES---Just a reminder to make sure you have the necessary medical supplies, splints, blood removal spray, etc. available or close by to use if needed. Obviously it would be wonderful if emergency medical personnel were readily available but that is probably not realistic in many communities. It might be wise thought to at least inform the local medical people of the times you are playing at home so they are aware of the possibility you might need them.

SCORING---ONE MORE TIME!!!!! At the varsity level, pool play, round-robin tournament play, and quadrangulars shall be played 2 of 3 to 21 with the third game to 15. Everything else is played to 25 points. That includes the semi-finals and finals of a tournament!! Those may be 2 of 3 or 3 of 5 but must be to 25 points with a deciding game to 15 points.

JEWELRY---If discovered during warm-up---just make the player remove it. If discovered during play, it is an Unnecessary Delay penalty assessed against her team and she must remove the jewelry immediately before being allowed to continue.

SUBSTITUTES----Rule 12-2-7b---indicates that non-playing team members shall remain seated on the team bench except to (b) go to a non-playable area to warm up without balls prior to entry into the game as a substitute. That is not considered to be at the team bench. The intent is when an area or space is provided immediately behind the team bench or very nearby that a substitute be allowed to warm up there. The libero who is forced to be out of the game for one rally before being allowed to come back in is not given a “freebie” to remain standing at the team bench. Also see Case Book page 37 12.2.7

LIBERO---A libero may not complete an attack from anywhere if AT THE MOMENT OF CONTACT, THE BALL IS ENTIRELY ABOVE THE HEIGHT OF THE NET.

PRE-MATCH WARM-UP---If the home team has an area available to them to use for warm-up during the opposing team’s six minutes on the floor, the same opportunity and area must be afforded to the opposing team while the home team has their six minutes on the floor. They must be informed regarding this opportunity---it is not fair to just assume they know that!

LINE JUDGES--- Just a reminder that all line judges used during district and regional tournaments must be adults. Please use good judgment in selecting quality people to serve in those roles. The IGHSAU will provide the line judges for the regional semi-final and final matches but the host school shall provide them up until that point.

REGIONAL FINALS---All regional finals will be played on a neutral court. As we proceed through the tournament it may be necessary to make a few site changes due to geographical distances or to being assigned to a site where that team will be playing.

Mike Dick

Associate Director