ANYTHING WRONG WITH THIS SERVE RECEIVE FORMATION? 
(SEE ANSWER BELOW)
ASSIGNOR ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM DAVID THOMPSON AND DON GARD:
1. Much thanks to all who responded with open dates on Thursday, 9/26, and Friday, 9/27. Prompt and specific responses are always appreciated.
2. With any changes, please remember to accept on Arbiter in order to get paid.
3. Please check Arbiter daily during the season.
4. If you have a change that will not allow you to officiate or you need to move to a later time on a certain date, please get that information to Don or David well ahead of time. Getting the info to us only a few hours before the assignment will not work, unless it is an emergency.
5. Please make sure your ArbiterPay account is set up and current.
ARTICLE ON TRAINING YOUR BRAIN AS A VOLLEYBALL OFFICIAL:
David Thompson, GKCOA assignor, came across this article from Referee magazine’s website and wanted to pass it along to GKCOA officials:
https://www.referee.com/train-your-brain/
DROPBOX QUESTIONS:
Q: Is there a MSHSAA rule regarding cheerleaders and them moving with the teams when they switched sides? I thought that was a point of emphasis a couple of years ago…can you remind me?
A: According to Davine Davis at MSHSAA, cheerleaders are there for the fans, so they will stay in front of their section of fans or students and not switch sides when the teams switch sides.
Q: Where can the team that’s off the court be during warmups?
A: When one team has exclusive use of the court for its five minutes, that doesn’t mean they have exclusive use of the entire gym. Anywhere where there’s space in the gym the other team can ball handle and warm up as long as it’s off the court. If a coach says that it’s illegal for the other team to warmup off the court, the confusion might be that in club, they did outlaw it, but in high school, they can still do so.
FROM DON SLEET, MSHSAA MECHANICS INTERPRETER AND OBSERVER:
Although vertical tape markers are not required, when used they are to be on the inside of the net antennas. See casebook play 3.1.5.
FROM DIXIE WESCOTT, MSHSAA RULES INTERPRETER:
In a memo to MSHSAA rules interpreters, it was noted that the uniform shorts (waistband) in this photo is in violation of Rule 4-2-1f where “a single partial/whole manufacturer’s logo/trademark/reference no more than 2 1/4 square inches with no dimension more than 2 1/4 inches is permitted on each piece of the uniform.”
So, if we see this, how are we supposed to handle it? Well, MSHSAA wants referees to individually address this with teams and coaches. They are not planning to send out a mass email or directive to all coaches regarding this rule interpretation. So, if you approach a coach about this, they might not know about this rule interpretation.
From Cathy Viets (MSHSAA rule interpreter from central Missouri): “If the jersey is left untucked and is long enough to cover the waistband when arms are raised during play (usually visible when serving, blocking and reaching to attack), the band should not visible and we will not have a ruling unless it becomes visible.
“If the jersey is too short to cover the band when left untucked, the player can continue to wear the shorts until postseason with a letter of permission from Davine until districts/sectionals/state play. To obtain the letter of permission, officials will instruct the coach to request a letter from Davine at MSHSAA and officials will also need to alert Davine.
“The compromise for this part of the 2019 season will allow the teams time to find replacement shorts while still allowing the player to compete. As long as the band is covered during play or the player has a letter of permission, officials will not have to penalize. If not, this is an administrative delay and the player is removed unless the shorts are replaced.”
If you have questions, please contact Dixie Wescott.
ARE THESE LEGAL?
According to Dixie Wescott, Rule 4-1-1 states that “a guard, cast or brace made of hard and unyielding leather, plaster, pliable (soft) plastic, metal or any other hard substance shall not be worn on the hand, finger, wrist or forearm, even though covered with soft padding.” These would be considered as a hard material. They should not enter the set, and if attempted it would be an unnecessary delay for the first offense. Case book 4.1.1 Situation also talks about this. There is no reason for a MSHSAA letter, as these is not legal.
However, Skids are made of a soft material, so if you see these, they are legal:
GOOD CALL OF A BALL CROSSING THE CENTER LINE EXTENSION:
We’ve had reports of a couple of coaches questioning Rule 9-3-3a where a ball is called out of bounds if it completely crosses the plane of the center line extension outside of either antenna. At one time in NCAA rules, a ball could be retrieved and brought back outside the antenna and play continued, and this was called the “pursuit rule.” This rule was discontinued in college several years ago. Technically, the pursuit rule still exists in club volleyball, but very few courts and gyms have the required space to have the rule, so it’s nearly non-existent. High school rules have been consistent over the years and have not allowed pursuit to occur.
Here is video and a good example of the ball entirely crossing the center line extension in front of the R2 and the referees making the proper call.
This is a good item to pre-match with your partner. As you can see, even though the R2 is right in front of where the ball was played, actually the R1 might actually have the better angle to see whether or not the ball completely crosses the plane of the net outside the antenna. Sometimes there is a line on the floor (maybe a basketball half court line that extends beyond the pole) that can help you determine if the ball is entirely across the plane and sometimes there isn’t. Some referees will pre-match that if the ball is near or behind the R2, then the R1 will determine if that ball should be blown dead. Likewise, sometimes it might be better for a ball behind the R1 to be potentially be blown dead by the R2 based on the angle. Again, you and your partner will have to determine your comfort level with one another in who makes those calls during your pre-match discussion.
ANSWER TO ABOVE QUESTION:
It appears that there is an overlap between MB (the setter pushed up at the net) and RB (the libero).
It’s important, though, that we look at a photo in its full context. We’re assuming that the setter is back row in this photo. We don’t know for sure because this is just one photo that could be taken out of context. Is it possible that the three players closest to the net are front row and the three passers are back row? Sure, it’s possible! If so, this formation would be legal. Only the referees on this court know the full rotation and context and can tell us for sure.
However, for the sake of argument here, let’s assume the setter is MB. This serve receive formation is where a lot of overlaps occur. Please be alert to this when the setter rotates into MB and is pushed up to the net like this. It’s very easy in this formation for one of the passers to slide over too far laterally and end up out of rotation, as shown here. Essentially, what to look for is that if the MF and MB are stacked together at the net, then you must have a LF and LB to the left of the stack and a RF and RB to the right of the stack. If you have 3 on one side and 1 on the other side (as shown here), there’s most likely something illegal, but if you make the call, you have to make sure you can identify the overlapped players to the coach! Also, there can be a potential overlap with the RF and RB (RB being closer to the center line than RF) as well in this formation. It’s not as common, but also be on the lookout for that as well!
NEXT “MEETING”
We do not have any more scheduled face-to-face meetings this year, so please keep up with the latest information using the Sunday newsletter and videos we may post here. We are planning on doing an online “meeting” of some sort on Sun., Oct. 6, if we feel it’s necessary. If you have questions or situations, please email ken.corum@nkcschools.org or use the Drop Box.
DR. KEN CORUM 