Officials Resources

Contacts

Sue Wainio, Official’s Administration Chair
Email: [email protected]

Joya Teter, Official’s Education Chair
Email: [email protected]

How to Become an Official

The courses and training modules are a member benefit and are only available to USAV registered members. The USA Volleyball Academy learning platform will provide access to the online training materials and track the completed certifications for each member.

The final step in the certification process is to be evaluated on the court by members of the region rating and training team. This is to allow everyone to experience a live game situation at a tournament. The focus is on learning, and new officials will be given training and guidance during this process. If the prospective official demonstrates proficiency by the end of the training and evaluation, and all other certification criteria have been met, including participating as an official at three Florida Region sanctioned events, including the ASICS Florida Volleyball Challenge*, a USAV Provisional patch will be awarded and the new official will be eligible for assignments.

*Requirement to attend the ASICS tournament may be waived due to date conflicts, but that event must be replaced by another Florida Region sanctioned event. See Officials staff for more info.

USAV Officials Resources

What is SafeSport?

The U.S. Center for SafeSport is an independent nonprofit organization responsible for responding to and preventing emotional, physical, and sexual misconduct and abuse.

The Center also serves as an educational resource for sports organizations at all levels, from recreational sports organizations to professional leagues.

Looking to Advance?

Are you considering upgrading your referee certification level? The Florida Region Officials Division is providing the following information to guide you through the decision process and the training process for upgrade. Please read everything carefully and follow the instructions exactly, paying special attention to the deadlines outlined below. Your primary contacts throughout the process will be Officials Coordinator Sue Wainio and/or Rating Team Coordinator Joya Teter. All communications should be via email.

This message applies to you if:

In all cases, candidates must be in good standing, registered with valid background screen and SafeSport, and must have completed their recertification online training.

Advancement from Provisional to Regional Referee

Candidates seeking advancement from Provisional Referee to Regional Referee must: (once these are completed you can sign up for an evaluation site).

Serve as a Provisional Referee for two complete seasons.
Been a member of the Florida Region for 1 full season.
Work two USAV Region-sanctioned events, plus the Florida Region ASICS Challenge Regional Tournament, without conflict during the previous season.
Complete all required USAV and Florida Region training modules.
Maintain membership in good standing with the Florida Region.

Officials seeking Junior National or National USAV Referee certification must:

Work three USAV Region-sanctioned events, plus the Florida Region ASICS Challenge Tournament, without conflict during the previous season in order to obtain the Region Referee Chair's signature on the National application.
Must have held your current certification for 2 full USAV seasons.
Have been a member of the Florida Region, in good standing, for 1 FULL season.
Attend monthly ZOOM meetings discussing rules, case studies and more educational information beginning in December.
Complete all current National certification requirements established by the USAV National Office.

The Florida Region is committed to assisting officials enhance their skills and abilities to upgrade their certification levels. For those wishing to move up to Junior National or National level the Region provides a comprehensive training program that is designed to provide participants with the best possible preparation and training to be successful at the national evaluation site if they are selected to attend by USAV.

If you are a JR NATIONAL looking to upgrade to NATIONAL

During the required activity period, candidates must attend as a full-time referee, without
conflict, one of the following:

Priority acceptance to our region program will be given to those who are applying to USAV in the current season. Applicants must also have worked in three Florida Region sanctioned tournaments in the previous season.

The Florida Region is committed to assisting officials enhance their skills and abilities to upgrade
their certification levels. For those wishing to move up to Junior National or National level the
Region provides a comprehensive training program that is designed to provide participants with
the best possible preparation and training to be successful at the national evaluation site if they
are selected to attend by USAV.

If you are a JR NATIONAL looking to upgrade to NATIONAL and you want to apply for the
Florida Region program, you must fill out the application below and return it by December 1,
2026. It is a fillable pdf. You can do it on your computer and email it back to Joya Teter. You must also complete the online training courses in the USA Volleyball Academy. The courses will be loaded into your account after your application has been received. If you are accepted into the region program the first evaluation date for National candidates will be communicated individually by Joya via email.

If you are a REGIONAL looking to upgrade to JR NATIONAL you must fill out the application
below and return it by December 1, 2026. It is a fillable pdf. You can do it on your computer and
email it back to Joya Teter. You must also complete the online training courses in the USA
Volleyball Academy. The courses will be loaded into your account after your application has
been received.

Space is limited since only 1-2 National Candidates are accepted by the national office for
Advancement and only 3-4 Junior National Candidates are accepted. Therefore, our region
training program will accept 5 National Candidates and 8 JN candidates for our region training
program.

Priority acceptance to our region program will be given to those who are applying to USAV in
the current season. Applicants must also have worked in three Florida Region sanctioned
tournaments without conflict, plus the ASICS Challenge Regional Championship, in the
previous season.

Training Sites for 2026/2027 season:

1. Nike Holiday Challenge (Daytona Beach, FL)
Location: Daytona Convention Center: The Ocean Center

101 N. Atlantic Ave, Daytona Beach, FL 32118

Date: December 12-13, 2026

2. Nike Florida Winter VB Festival (Daytona Beach, FL)
Location: Daytona Convention Center: The Ocean Center

101 N. Atlantic Ave, Daytona Beach, FL 32118

Date: January 9-10, 2027

3. First in Show (Ocala, FL)
Location: World Equestrian Center
Expo 2

1598 NW 87th CT, Ocala, FL 34482

Date: January 16-18, 2027

4. Tri-County Pre-Qualifier Weekend 2 (Maimi, FL)
Location: Miami/Dade County Fair & Expo Center

10901 SW 24th St., Miami, FL 33165

Date: February 6-7, 2027

5. Nike Daytona Beach 100
Location: Daytona Convention Center: The Ocean Center

101 N. Atlantic Ave, Daytona Beach, FL 32118

Date: February 6-7, 2027

6. Molten Florida Pre-Q (Tampa, FL)
Location: Tampa Convention Center

333 S. Franklin St, Tampa, FL 33602

Date: February 26-28, 2027

7. Nike Winner’s Circle
Location: World Equestrian Center

1284 NW 87th CT, Ocala, FL 34482

Date: April 10-11, 2027

8. Futures Camp (for JN Candidates ONLY)
By Invitation ONLY
TBA

Recertification

All officials must recertify each season.

Provisional and Regional officials may complete all recertification requirements online.

National officials must follow USAV National officials’ annual recertification guidelines and pay the appropriate national dues. For more information on National official guidelines, click here.

Recertifying officials must complete the Florida adult recertifying referee clinic. They must also pass 2 ratings/observations during the regular season every other year after initial certification is obtained. Successful candidates will:

Required Courses

FL25_202 Adult Recertifying Provisional Referee (Available after October 15, 2025). Who takes this?

FL25_203 Adult Recertifying Regional Referees (Available after October 15, 2025). Who takes this?

These courses will be automatically loaded into your USA Volleyball Academy account after 10/22/24. You must have a current membership in order to receive the courses in your account. If you do not see your courses in your account, you need to email [email protected] after you renew your membership and request the course be added to your account. You will be required to complete the courses by January 3, 2025.

FAQ - Have I done everything I need to recertify?

If you want to know if you have done everything you needed to do to recertify, you can check to see if your membership in SportsEngine shows you as ELIGIBLE. Sign in to SE, go to Household>View Profile and on the right side of the screen you will see 24-25 Florida Adult Official. If it says “Eligible” in green that is good, but you still need to do your recertification in the Academy. If it says “Ineligible” click on View Details and expand the details next to your 24-25 Florida Adult Official membership to see what is missing. It is most likely your background screen or your SafeSport. Check this yourself before asking about your status!

To login to your USAV Academy Account:

Purple Card Policy

Florida Region Purple Card Policy

Spectator and Parent Policy

Florida Region Good Standing Policy

Foreign Guest Officials

We are happy to have guest officials from other Federations come to officiate our events. Due to issues that have taken place in other sports, USA Volleyball revised its policy for Foreign Participants. (Officials who are members of other Federations.) The goal here is to be sure that all athletes are able to experience a safe environment during competition.

The Foreign Guest Officials Membership link is now available for folks from Canada, Puerto Rico, and other countries to sign up. The process is streamlined and easy to follow, but you must make sure you complete all the steps.

Good Standing Requirements

USA Volleyball requires that all Foreign Guest Officials be IN GOOD STANDING with their home federation. It is STRONGLY recommended that each official contact their Federation Leadership to make sure they are IN GOOD STANDING and able to work in the USA.

USAV will obtain confirmation from that country that each official is IN GOOD STANDING, and final sign off on eligibility will be held until the IN GOOD STANDING status is confirmed.

Guest Official Membership

Please get this started as soon as possible if you need to work in January. Background screens can take several weeks to clear.

ZEBRAWEB Registration

To officiate in the Florida Region at our region sanctioned events you must be registered in our ZEBRAWEB assigning system. ZEBRAWEB is where you receive and confirm any assignments for region sanctioned tournaments, whether they are in SportWrench or not. If you are not in the ZEBRAWEB system, send an email to [email protected]. You will receive an invitation to join by email. Once you join, enter your availability. You do this by blocking dates that you are unavailable. Keep your availability current there, and you will be notified of your assignments and receive important assigning information and announcements.

NOTE: This does NOT apply to any AAU events. If you are working AAU events, please BLOCK those dates in ZEBRAWEB.

SPORTWrench

Many of the tournaments require registration and application in SportWrench. When entering your profile, do not choose USA as your country if you are coming from a federation in Puerto Rico (even though that is technically correct!) Please choose Puerto Rico as your country. After that you will not be required to enter a USAV member number.

If you have already set up your profile and you need to correct it, you must edit your profile. Click on your name in blue in the top right so it brings up your user profile in SportWrench, and in the top right of that there is a country drop down where you can select Puerto Rico. Once you do that, you are no longer required to enter a USAV Registration # to update their official profile.

Additional assistance

Pati Rolf, Director of Officials
4065 Sinton Rd., Ste. 200
Colorado Springs, CO 80907
T: (719) 228-6800

Indoor Rule Book

USAV Indoor Handbook

Significant Rule Changes and Modifications

Additional Resources

Officials Tournament Assigning System

Sue Wanio (Official’s Coordinator) serves as the assignor for the Florida Region. You may contact Sue at [email protected].

Florida region assigning

The assigning systems for 2024-25 will remain the same as last year. Officials will apply for tournaments through the host’s platform, such as SportWrench.

ALL FLORIDA REGION SANCTIONED TOURNAMENT ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE FINALIZED AND MUST BE CONFIRMED IN ZEBRAWEB.

Referee Assignment instructions for all Florida region sanctioned events

Here are the steps of the assigning process

Official requests to work a tournament. This may be done in a variety of ways. It may be by applying in SportWrench or other app as designated by the tournament staff. Some tournament head officials use email, text or phone calls to reach out to officials.
Official is approved, accepted or otherwise agrees to work that event. This may happen through various methods, such as SportWrench, email, etc.
FOR ALL FLORIDA REGION SANCTIONED EVENTS: Once you are approved or accepted to a tournament, go into ZEBRAWEB and UNBLOCK your availability for that tournament.
If the official has applied for additional events on that same weekend, they should withdraw their application from all except the event they have agreed to work.
Official will receive an email from ZEBRAWEB asking to accept the assignment. Do this within 48 hours. This will be the final confirmation of the assignment.

Hotel Policy and instructions for Florida region hosted tournaments

There is a change in the hotel procedures for the tournaments that are HOSTED by the Florida Region. All the hotel assignments will be handled by the Florida Region Events staff, not the tournament head officials or the Officials Coordinator. Here is how you need to provide hotel roommate requests effective for all 2025 Florida Region hosted events.

Hotels are available for those who live more than 50 miles one way from the event site
All rooms are double occupancy with another working official
Roommate requests for ALL Florida Region hosted events must be submitted in SportWrench in the Roommate Preference box when you apply for the event
You must list your roommate preferences in order. It is suggested that you list a minimum of 4 suggested roommates
When you are accepted in SW to the event, reach out to the people on your suggested roommate list and see if they will be attending the event. Go into SportWrench and adjust by removing those who will not be attending. Add or adjust the preference order of your roommates
All changes to your roommate list must be completed within 7 days of your acceptance to the event
Any extenuating circumstances or questions need to be communicated ONLY to [email protected]

The Region office will do their best to honor roommate requests for these events.

Scorer Requirements

Become Certified as a Provisional Scorer

A Provisional scorer is authorized to keep score at any USA Volleyball-sanctioned competition, including junior competition within the Florida Region and in other Regions.
After one season a Provisional scorer may upgrade to Regional scorer upon completion the required online courses.

Become certified or re-certify as a Regional scorer

Be a current member in good standing within Florida Region - USA Volleyball
Complete the courses, clinics and exams for indoor scorer certification and training. Clinics and quizzes must be completed before working as a scorer at a sanctioned tournament
Demonstrate the ability to keep score during regular season tournaments
Benefits:

A Regional scorer is authorized to keep score at any USA Volleyball-sanctioned competition, including Junior Volleyball. competition within the Region where certified, and in other Regions.
The Regional rating may be retained indefinitely provided all re-certification requirements are met.

Become a national scorer

FL Region 5 Player Policy

Florida Region USAV – “Ghost Player” Policy

Changes and Modifications to “Ghost Player” Policy

Indoor officiating certification levels

Overview

Provisional refereeing is the entry-level professional referee certification that is awarded by a Region. Provisional Referee Certifications are available for adults and 16,17 and 18 Year Old Junior Referees.

To Become Certified

Be a current member in good standing within Florida Region - USA Volleyball
Have a current background screening performed by the company contracted by USA Volleyball
New referees (candidates) must attend an in-person New Referee Orientation meeting
Candidates must complete the New Referee Clinic, Course ID FL23_201 found in the USAV Academy

Must be completed BEFORE attending the in-person New Referee Orientation Clinic. The deadline to complete all online training and testing is January 6!

Juniors who are at least 16 years of age shall have the opportunity to become certified as provisional referees and work as a first referee at select Junior Tournaments of the appropriate format for volleyball competitions within the Florida Region with the approval of the head official. Minors will not be provided lodging with non-related adults at tournaments that provide hotels. 16, 17 and 18 year olds who wish to work as a paid referee at Florida Region sanctioned tournaments will complete course ID FL23_107. All other certification requirements are the same as for an adult provisional referee, see above.

To Re-Certify

Be a current member in good standing within Florida Region - USA Volleyball
Have a current background screening performed by the company contracted by USA Volleyball
Recertifying officials must complete the Florida adult recertifying referee clinic. They must also pass 2 ratings/observations during the regular season every other year after initial certification is obtained
Recertification training and exams deadline is January 6

Responsibilities and Entitlements

The Provisional Referee will be entitled to wear the official Provisional patch and approved official’s uniform while officiating
The Provisional Referee shall have the opportunity to work assignments for sanctioned and other approved volleyball competitions within the Florida Region from regionally designated assignor(s)
A Provisional Referee may elect to become a candidate for Regional Referee upon completion of two full seasons as a Provisional Referee, or by recommendation by a USAV National or Junior National referee and approval by the Official's Chair. The Provisional rating may be retained indefinitely provided all re-certification requirements are met.
A Provisional Referee is authorized to officiate any USA Volleyball-sanctioned competition, including Junior Volleyball competition within the Region where certified, and in other Regions with the approval of the appropriate Regional referee chair

Overview

The next referee certification awarded by the regions is the Regional referee certification.

To Become Certified

Be a current member in good standing within Florida Region - USA Volleyball
Have a current background screening performed by the company contracted by USA Volleyball
Worked as a Provisional Referee for at least 2 full seasons. This requirement may be waived as described below
Complete the online recertification clinic in the USAV Academy
Take the USAV rules test online. Deadline to take the test is January 6
Successfully complete and maintain a Provisional or Regional Scorekeeper certification
Request to be considered as a Regional Referee Candidate by contacting the Official's Coordinator
Demonstrate the ability to officiate at the Regional Referee level as a first and second referee at a selected Regional Upgrade Tournament. The successful Regional candidate will:

Have a good knowledge of the rules, mechanics & techniques
Have a basic knowledge of the use of the USAV scoresheet
Knows how to transition as an R2
Show awareness of rotational faults
Show back row awareness

To Re-Certify

Be a current member in good standing within Florida Region - USA Volleyball
Have a current background screening. screening performed by the company contracted by USA Volleyball. No other background screens are accepted. This is a policy of USA Volleyball that cannot be changed or altered by the Florida Region. The background screen is good for one year and the process is initiated during registration by checking the box indicating that you would like to officiate Juniors tournaments
Watch the online recertification clinic found in the USAV Academy each year. For 2022-23 this is Course ID FL23_203. Access this clinic in the USAV accademy. It will be loaded into your account by 11/1/22
As part of the online recertifiacation course you will be required to take the annual rules test
Successfully complete and maintain a Regional Scorekeeper certification

Responsibilities and Entitlements

After certification, the Regional Referee will be entitled to wear the official Regional patch and approved official’s uniform while officiating
After certification, the Regional Referee shall have the opportunity to work assignments for sanctioned and other approved volleyball competitions within the Florida Region from Regionally designated assignor(s)
The Regional rating may be retained indefinitely provided all re-certification requirements are met
A Regional Referee is authorized to officiate any USA Volleyball-sanctioned competition, including Junior Volleyball competition within the Region where certified, and in other Regions with the approval of the appropriate Regional Referee Chair

Transferring Rating from Other Regions

Regional Qualifications for Jr National and National Adult Officials

First and foremost, you must demonstrate your skills proficiency as a first and second referee in the USAV guidelines for first and second referees. You must also satisfy the following minimum requirements.

Request consideration for certification upgrade from Official's Coordinator
Have professional and moral character
For National Candidates, it is highly recommended that the individual completes at least two consecutive seasons as a Jr. National referee before applying to be a National Candidate. The National Candidate MUST be recommended by NO LESS than three (3) people from the “List of Qualified Individuals for Recommending National Referee Candidates” AND approved by the Officials Chair and Commissioner of the Florida Region
Officiate as a referee in four regular season USAV-affiliated tournaments in the last completed season
Officiate in one Regional championship in the last completed season

Additional Information

See link below for information for all national officials (JN, N and National Scorers). This is the letter sent by USAV Officials Development Director Pati Rolf. This includes information on the National clinics. There are deadlines associated with the topics in this memo, so check it out soon and make plans to comply.

Access to the National Clinics will be available to everyone who is not a National Referee at a cost of $25. They will not be allowed to attend these National Clinics live this year; however, they can register for the recorded version. USAV is working on a registration system for this group. More information will follow in the following weeks. See clinic topic and description below.

Jr National and National Officials Info Letter 2-22-22

Below you will find information on the Junior Officiating Team training and tools required for junior athletes and clubs in the Florida Region.

A Junior Officiating Team (or Work Team) consist of the members of a junior’s team who are part of the tournament officiating crew during a team’s assigned work matches. Florida Region policy requires that every Junior Officiating Team be trained before they participate in a match as part of the officiating crew.

The training courses will be automatically loaded into each Junior player’s account around mid-October.

If you experience any difficulties in completing the courses, the fastest way to get help is to fill out a help ticket by clicking here.

CONTACT INFO
Email: [email protected]

Junior officiating teAM INFORMATION

Which Courses Should I Take?

Each person participating on the Officiating Team must have taken the course for the duty they perform. It is recommended that all Junior players take at least two of the four courses so that there is adequate coverage for all positions at tournaments. The club may establish policy to require all four clinics. This is the best practice. Online training should be completed before first tournament. Training will be required for each person participating as part of the officiating team. Training options include:

Junior Line Judge Training
Junior Asst. Scorer / Libero Tracker Training
Junior Scorer Training
Junior Second Referee Training
The current courses all have a prefix of FL27 and those are the courses that WILL BE loaded into each Junior player's USA Volleyball Academy account on October 15th, 2026. PLEASE NOTE! THERE MAY BE A LAG TIME OF UP TO TWO HOURS FOR THE COURSES TO POPULATE IN THE ATHLETE'S USAV ACADEMY

INSTRUCTIONS FOR Junior ONLINE USAV CLINICS & EXAMS

The courses and training modules are a member benefit, and are only be available to USAV registered members. The Learning Academy platform will provide access to the online training materials and track the completed certifications for each member.

All Junior athletes will automatically be enrolled in the complete set of officiating team courses in their USAV Academy through SportsEngine.

After completing the member registration, an account for the new USAV Learning Academy will be created for each member. Each Junior player has been enrolled in the required courses and these now appear on the player’s dashboard. To access the courses, follow the instructions below.

Junior player usav academy dashboard

This is representative of what each Junior player will see when they sign in to the USAV Academy.

If you experience any difficulties in completing the courses, the fastest way to get help is to fill out a help ticket at http://help.usavolleyballacademy.org/

Coaches and Member Adults of a Reffing Team

Coaches or member adults who could serve as part of the officiating team at a USAV sanctioned Junior Tournament will take a slightly different course, which has the same basic content as the Junior players. The course is:

Florida Region USAV Junior WORK Team Officials Requirements

Requirements for certification have not changed. Junior Work Team Officials are the members of a Juniors team who will be part of the tournament officiating crew during a team’s assigned work matches at a tournament. Florida Region policy requires that these Junior Work Team Officials be trained before they participate in a match as part of the officiating crew. Here are the training requirements for the season. The work team consists of a minimum of six people. They are:

Each person who will function during the season as a second referee, scorer, assistant scorer, or line judge must have completed the online training for each function that they will be performing during the season. It is also required that one of the team members at the scorer’s table or the second referee must be a rostered adult.

Juniors interested in officiating for pay IN THE 2026-27 SEASON

Juniors who will be at least 16 years old in the 2025-26 season are eligible to become certified as Jr Provisional Referees and work matches as a paid official at tournaments when they are not playing. This is a great way to enjoy volleyball and earn some money! Juniors who become certified are eligible to work tournaments as a paid first referee. They will be assigned to work appropriate age groups based on their own age and officiating experience. The Florida Region Evaluation and Training Team will assist these younger referees with the training and support they need to be successful.

Certification Steps – STARTING IN OCTOBER 2026 FOR THE 2026-27 SEASON

Be registered as a USAV Florida Region member. Juniors who are 18 years old must also have a current background screen
When registering, select the Jr Region Refree/Official membership
Your USAV Academy account will be updated with the training course for Junior Region Referees, FL27_107 Junior Provisional Paid Referee Training for 16-17-year-olds. This is an online training course that explains the rules, protocols, hand signals and other instructions needed to function as a paid R1 or R2 at a tournament. The course has all the instructional modules needed for certification. It does not need to be completed all at one time, but must be completed before on-court evaluations.
You will also need to complete the FL27 In-Person Orientation for new referees. This is a live online event. There will be several dates available starting in mid-December 2026. You need to attend one of them
Finally, you will need to attend a tournament for on-court training and evaluation. You will work with members of the Florida Region Evaluation and Training team. They will guide you through the process of officiating matches. You will need to successfully complete 2 evaluations as R1 and one evaluation as R2. You will receive notice of the dates and locations.
After successful completion of these steps and work at region sanctioned tournaments you will receive a Provisional Referee certification and patch that will be good for one season

On court evaluations start in December 2025 and go through March 2026

Fill out and submit the form below if you are between 16 and 18 and interested in working as a paid Jr Region Referee at tournaments IN THE 2025-26 SEASON

FOR MORE REGION INFORMATION AND EVENT OPPORTUNITIES EMAIL: [email protected]

beach officiating certification levels

Local

Candidates may apply to either our single-day CLINICS or to our multi-day CAMPS
Once certified, LOCAL beach volleyball officials are eligible to officiate junior beach volleyball events, or perhaps to assist at higher level events
Candidates for LOCAL certification are requested to complete our application
Fees for LOCAL candidacy are set by the host Region, and vary from event to event
There are not any prerequisites to applying for LOCAL certification; anyone may apply

Zonal

Candidates may also choose to attend either a single-day clinic, or a multi-day camp
Candidates are required to submit a volleyball-related resume in addition to the basic application. Applications are reviewed on a case-by-case basis
National and Junior National indoor referees, or candidates with extensive beach playing, coaching or officiating experience, have a great chance to be accepted
The Zonal certification course is hosted by our cadre of National Clinicians
The course includes mandatory classroom study and a Rules exam, as well as significant on-sand practical experience
Successful ZONAL candidates are recommended to NCAA collegiate officiating, as well as to any USAV junior event
Applications, including a beach resume', are required of all Zonal candidates

National

This certification is the highest level offered by USAVolleyball
Beach officials should serve for at least a year as ZONAL beach officials before considering application for their NATIONAL certification
Candidates may self-nominate and apply, but must be approved as candidates by an administrative committee
USAV usually hosts only one NATIONAL course per year
National beach officials are among those likely to be recommended to the professional beach volleyball tours and the NCAA National Championships
After three years experience at the National level, officials become eligible for consideration to be recommended to the FIVB as International Beach Volleyball Referee candidates. That program is wholly managed by the FIVB

New AND RETURNING OFFICIALS TOOLS

How to Become a Beach Official

It’s important to note that we are beach officials, not just beach referees. To certify for beach officiating, you will train in all of the officiating roles, including lines-judge and scorer, as well as first and second referee!

How do you get started?

If you haven’t already done so, please get onto our national USAV Beach-Volley Officiating Mailing List by sending us a quick email indicating your interest, to [email protected].

To begin your registration process, please complete the Application Form found at USAVolleyball.org. Once we’ve helped you find the training event that’s right for you, then you will register for your camp or clinic through our online registration and payment portal. This information will be sent upon acceptance

USAV Beach Officiating TRAINING CAMPS are hosted around the country each summer. CAMPS, which provide both LOCAL and ZONAL level training and certification, offer you the best opportunity for a multi-day, immersive learning experience. For more information, click here.

Get off to a great start by making use of our online tools available for your at-home convenience at Officials Resources. Look for the “Beach Officials Resources” title at the top of the page to jump to Beach Volleyball Resources. The Beach Rulebook can be found at Rulebooks and Interpretations. Beach Training Materials including scoring instruction and other resource documents can be accessed at Officiating Training Manuals.

Your first on-sand opportunities begin with your home Region. Contact your beach official’s chair to enroll in LOCAL beach referee certification, where you will probably work with Juniors events on the sand. If your region doesn’t yet offer beach referee training, feel free to contact the national office at [email protected]

Zonal certification is the second level of beach certification. If you already have some experience in Beach, or are already an indoor national referee, you may be eligible to move directly to one of our ZONAL certification CAMPS or CLINICS. Click here to look for announcements posted each spring. Zonal beach referees are eligible to work professionally at Collegiate events.

For news about our CAMP or CLINIC opportunities, see our postings at on the USAV site – click here – or write to us directly at [email protected]. Note that more specific information (all the fine print) regarding earning and maintaining each level of certification appears online at Officials Certifications.

In Review: Use each of these tools in the order that best suits you:

Mailing List
Online Study
General Application then Event-Specific registration online
Regional or National Beach Officiating CAMP or CLINIC

And finally, please feel free to send any questions that you may have to [email protected].

Beach Official Resources

Training Event Fee Structure

CLINICS are one-day training events. They begin with a mandatory classroom session, usually held the evening before the competition (6 to 9pm is typical). Candidates work for a full day of on-sand evaluation, with formal feedback from members of our National Rating/Training Team.

Clinic Fees:

CAMPS are multi-day training events. The multi-day format offers the opportunity for new officials to get a great deal of personal instruction and feedback. Each camp includes the evening classroom session, one or two days of hands-on training on sand, then one day of formal evaluation.

Camp Fees:

Beach Rule Book