FLORIDA REGION REFEREE INSTRUCTIONS FOR ADVANCEMENT

For Those Who are Considering Advancment of Their Certification Level

This 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 Rating Team Coordinator Joya Teter.

This message applies to you if:
· You are a PROVISIONAL looking to upgrade to REGIONAL
· You are a REGIONAL looking to upgrade to JR NATIONAL
· You are a JR NATIONAL looking to upgrade to NATIONAL

The FIRST thing that you must do, NO LATER THAN Saturday, December 28, 2019 is to communicate your intention to upgrade by ENROLLING in the following online clinic:
FL Adult Recertifying Regional Referee -- Advanced FL20

This is the ONLY way to declare your candidacy for ALL LEVELS of upgrade. We will be pulling a list from the registrations of this clinic. We will use this list to communicate with you on rating and training opportunities in order to help you prepare for your upgrade sessions.

Instructions for registration are found here:
http://www.floridavolleyball.org/instructions-for-online-clinics--exams.html

You must COMPLETE the Advanced clinic by NO LATER THAN Friday, January 5, 2020.

Beyond the Advanced clinic, you must also comply with all the NORMAL RECERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS for your CURRENT level. So, for example, if you are a PROVISIONAL referee NOW, you will need to complete FL Adult Recertifying Provisional Referee FL20. If you are a REGIONAL referee NOW, you will need to complete FL Adult Recertifying Regional Referee FL20. If you are a JR NATIONAL referee NOW you will need to complete your USA Volleyball national-level pre-season curriculum by 11:59 pm on January 5, 2020.

In addition to online training, there will be training offered in Daytona Beach on January 10-11, 2020. The Florida Region will host the National Referee Clinic and the Advancement Referee Clinics.

The National Referee Clinic is an in-depth clinic specifically for USAV National and Junior National referees. All national-level referees must attend the National Referee Clinic every season, either online or in person.
The Advancement Referee Clinic will bolster the knowledge of veteran referees and complement the training of referees wishing to upgrade their certification to the next level. This is optional, but recommended strongly for those who are looking to upgrade to Jr National.
If you are a Provisional looking to advance to Regional you should do the online advancement clinic FL Adult Recertifying Regional Referee -- Advanced FL20 NOT this advancement clinic.
Date: January 10, 2020
Site: Daytona Beach Ocean Center
Advancement Clinic Start: 4:00 PM
National Clinic Start: 6:00 PM

Registration instructions and information about deadlines and fees for these clinics can be found here:
https://volleyballreftraining.com/events_ref_clinics.php

It is highly recommended that all candidates for Jr National and National referee attend the National USAV clinic in Daytona Beach, IN PERSON. Following the National Referee Clinic, there will be a meeting for ALL Jr National and National candidates. In this meeting we will cover helpful information as to what to expect during the JN/National rating process. Also, we will cover all the requirements the Region will expect you to meet and hopefully exceed. The Florida Region Officials Division takes training seriously, and our team will do its best to help you achieve your goal. With that being said, we expect each candidate to take responsibility for their performance throughout the process. Candidates must be professional, open to feedback, and committed to implement the training and evaluation steps provided during the process. In addition, each candidate will have to meet all the requirements listed to obtain the signatures required by the National Rating Team as outlined in the re quirements posted on www.volleyballreftraining.com.

There will be a series of rating tournaments for all levels of upgrades throughout the season. The dates include:

· Daytona Beach January 11-12
· Daytona Beach February 1-2
· Jacksonville February 8-9
· Cloverleaf March 14-15
· Tampa March 21-22

Priority assigning at rating sites will be granted to those who have declared upgrade candidacy through registration in the online Advanced Clinic mentioned at the beginning of this message. There may be some constraints with availability of hotels, so please plan on attending the tournaments closer to where you live. You are encouraged to sign up for as many of the rating events as possible. Please note that you may not be compensated for all the matches you work if you are involved in a rating process, and accommodating the ratings may affect your total match count for any given event.

For referees moving from Provisional to Regional, you will be able to receive ratings at the events listed above, and you will be provided feedback to help you work on your skills as you progress through the season. As soon as you demonstrate the skills needed to advance, you will be promoted to the Regional level. This will mean you must meet the requirements for Regional Referee, which can be reviewed here: http://www.floridavolleyball.org/referee-requirements.html

National and JN candidates should plan on working the first Daytona Beach tournament January 11-12, as we will have raters on hand to evaluate candidates and establish a baseline level as a starting point for your training. You will have a minimum of 3 ratings during the regular season. You will be given very constructive feedback that you can use to make improvements and or changes to your game. These ratings will also be used to rank candidates if the number of candidates we have exceeds the number that will be allowed by the National Rating Team. (Example...if our region is allowed 4 National candidates and we have 7, these ratings will come into play).

National and JN candidates will be required to work two tournaments where you will be assigned as the second referee on a semi-final and a final in the Open division. You may or may not receive compensation for these R2 matches, depending on the event, and meeting this requirement may affect your total match count for the event. The assignment must be coordinated with the tournament head referee and the Officials Coordinator Sue Wainio. Notify Sue no later than ONE WEEK before the event to be sure the assignments can be made. It would also be helpful to put the request in the SportWrench notes, if it is a SportWrench tournament.

One of the key components for success in the rating process is practice! It is highly recommended that you work as many Qualifiers as you can. We are aware that almost all qualifiers take place after the deadlines for applications, but you are encouraged to work as many as you can for the practice.

National and Jr National Deadlines and Signatures

THE DEADLINE FOR HAVING YOUR NATIONAL APPLICATION INTO FLORIDA REGION OFFICIALS CHAIR Darin Clark IS FEBRUARY 11, 2020. NO EXCEPTIONS!

THE DEADLINE FOR HAVING YOUR JUNIOR NATIONAL APPLICATION FLORIDA REGION OFFICIALS CHAIR Darin Clark IS MARCH 25, 2020.

You can find applications at www.volleyballreftraining.com , along with the list of names that are eligible to sign for National candidates. It is advised that you contact the person who you are going to ask to sign for you before “just showing up” to ask them. That way they can plan to watch you if they haven’t seen you work in the past 15 months.

We know that this is a lot of very detailed information, but understand that being able to handle details, follow instructions and meet deadlines is vital for successful candidates. We will be publishing additional information as the season progresses, and we will archive all the communication on the Florida Region website Officials pages www.floridavolleyball.org/officials.

If you have additional questions that are not covered here, please reach out to Joya Teter at lghsvb@aol.com or Sue Wainio at sue@floridavolleyball.org.
Thank you and GOOD LUCK in your quest to learn and grow as a USA Volleyball official!