Important Information for High School/ Middle School Volleyball Officiating
Greetings from the Austin Chapter Volleyball (ACV)! Thank you for visiting our website and your interest in joining our local chapter, which serves the surrounding Austin areas. The following information will provide the steps needed to get started and get you prepared to become a part of our volleyball association.
Step One: To officiate, one must become a member of two organizations. The first is the Texas Association of Sports Officials (TASO). Visit http://www.taso.org and click in the upper right-hand corner on “membership renewal / new applicants” to complete the process. TASO dues are $40 for new members.
Step Two: The second organization is the local chapter, Austin Chapter Volleyball. TASO covers the entire state while ACV covers a large geographic area around Austin. To join ACV, submit a completed Austin Chapter application and annual dues of $30 to the Chapter Treasurer, Bonnie Caddell, at 1321 Ewald Road, New Braunfels, TX 78130.
Once these two steps are completed, the following is how ACV gets you prepared.
Training: ACV is committed to providing quality officials to coaches and players and all officials attend various training and meetings! For you, ACV has two excellent trainers, Harvey Madrigal and Christle Miersma, who are committed to helping new members learn about volleyball officiating through classroom and on-court training. The current classroom training schedule and other relevant information will be posted on the ACV website by early May.
• Orientation sessions for new officials will be scheduled and announced on our website as well as emailed to all individuals who have expressed interest in officiating. Classroom training typically starts in late May/early June.
• On-court training for new officials goes from May to July. There are also many training presentations posted and available on our website to review at any time. The more one attends training, the better ACV will be able to match one to the appropriate level.
• TASO also requires all officials to attend either the state meeting or a district clinic, which occur in July. The district clinic can also be taken on-line.
It is essential, in order to be effective, that new members: (1) visit the website often; (2) review the chapter calendar; (3) make plans to attend each night of classroom training (4) attend at least four on-court training sessions; and (5) all new member meetings as well as chapter meetings.
Uniforms and Equipment: TASO requires uniformity in what officials wear. As an incentive to join, ACV reimburses new members up to $50 for the equipment/clothing required to officiate after they’ve worked their first match. More information about the uniform and equipment requirements will be provided at orientation sessions.
By now you may be asking, “Is it worth it?” Great question and the answer is, “Yes, because we make good friends, have fun, plus earn extra spending cash right before the holidays!” So, here are a few more tidbits.
Volleyball Season: The season starts for high-school with scrimmages the first weekend of August and ends in October. Middle school kicks off in September and goes through the first week of November. Varsity playoffs start the last week of October and run through mid-November. Match
Days/Times: Generally middle-school matches occur Mon./Thurs. and usually start at 4:30 or 5 pm. High -school matches are normally on Tues./Fri. and will vary from 4:30 to 6 pm depending on football games. Saturday is busy with tournaments and some matches. Wednesday evenings are light, which makes them ideal for ACV meeting nights. UIL competition is not allowed on Sunday. ACV expects officials to be at the gym 30 minutes ahead of match time.
Scheduling: Officials are independent contractors and are responsible for submitting their availability to the ACV Assigning Secretary. ACV uses Arbiter scheduling. Officials specify what days they can work, where they’re leaving from (work or home), what times they can leave on what days, how far they can go, and what schools are closest to them and any they want to block for whatever reason.
Pay: Last year’s pay schedule is posted on our website under the category of “Forms and Documents” and will give you an idea as to what to expect. Schools send officials payments typically by check within 1 to 6 weeks after the event. It is important for you to keep good records for IRS purposes.
ACV realizes that all of this information may be overwhelming. Please know that, in addition to the trainers, there are three at-large representatives that are available to answer questions and guide you through the process.
We cordially invite you to become a member of TASO and ACV.