Line Judge Certifications
List of current PAVO Nationally Certified Line Judges
Purpose:
- Build a database of certified line judges
- Increase knowledge and competency of line judges
- Recognize and validate line judges as professional officials
- Advocate for reasonable line judge compensation
Using the Basic Line Judge Certification Standards outlined below, PAVO Affiliated Boards have the authority to award and renew PAVO line judge certification. As part of the certification process, line judges will receive a "Certified Line Judge" patch (initial certification only), liability insurance coverage, PAVO member discounts on programming, merchandise, and access to the NCAA Central Hub. The Central Hub provides current-year rule interpretation newsletters from the NCAA Secretary-Rules Editor, messages from the National Coordinator, access to the "Ask the Judge" forum for line judges, and other important seasonal information exclusive to the NCAA Central Hub.
PAVO currently has established two progressive line judge certifications:
- Basic - qualified to officiate matches that may be adequately controlled by a competent, but inexperienced line judge.
- National - qualified to officiate any match anywhere in the United States. This rating is for the most highly skilled line judge.
Initial Line Judge Certification Requirements
Certification expires annually on June 1
- Attend an annual line judge clinic, conducted by a PAVO-approved instructor, using current PAVO training materials (LJ Manual, LJ Video, LJ Exam, LJ Best Practices). Approved PAVO instructors include PAVO State or National referees, a PAVO Nationally-certified line judge, NCAA Division I conference assignors/coordinators, and any individual who has been assigned as a line judge to an NCAA Division I Regional or Championship event in the last five years.
- Submit the following, by December 31, to the Chair of the Affiliated Board that you choose to join:
- The current-year written Line Judge Exam, corrected to 100%, and signed by an approved PAVO clinic instructor.
- A PAVO Line Judge Recommendation Form with three recommendation signatures from at least two separate PAVO-approved instructors. Recommendations must be based on at least one 25-point set. If one instructor serves as two of your three recommendations, they must be based on two separate matches. Recommendations may be based on observations at any women’s or men’s collegiate match, or any other PAVO, USA Volleyball, or high school match officiated by referees (both first and second) certified by PAVO or USA Volleyball within 12 months of the date of observation. Recommendation forms are included in the PAVO Line Judge Training and Certification Program Manual or can be obtained from the Forms and Applications page of the website or by direct request from the PAVO Central Office.
Renewing a Line Judge Certification
Certification expires annually on June 1
- Join a PAVO Affiliated Board as either a Referee Member (Standard membership) or a Line Judge/Scorer Member (Associate membership), including timely payment of membership dues and acknowledgement and acceptance of all PAVO membership waivers and documentation as described above.
- Attend an annual line judge clinic as described above.
- Submit the following, by December 31, to the Chair of the Affiliated Board that you choose to join:
- The current-year written Line Judge Exam, corrected to 100%, and signed by an approved PAVO clinic instructor
- One written recommendation signature obtained every 2 years (see description above)
Application Process and Candidate Criteria
Any questions related to this process may be directed to Dan Swensen, PAVO Director of Line Judge Training and Development, at linejudge.director@pavo.org
The National Line Judge certification is awarded only by the PAVO National Rating Team (NRT) at several rating sites around the country each year. Any individual applying for initial certification as a PAVO National Line Judge MUST have worked as a line judge with a PAVO Basic Line Judge certification during the two (2) volleyball seasons immediately preceding the year for application for candidacy. Certification as a PAVO Basic Line Judge will be verified by the PAVO Central Office as a part of the application process prior to acceptance of the completed application.
Complete the application process if you are applying to be a candidate for initial certification as a National Line Judge at a PAVO National Rating site.
Initial National Line Judge Certification Requirements
Any questions related to this process may be directed to Dan Swensen, PAVO Director of Line Judge Training and Development, at linejudge.director@pavo.org
- Meet all current requirements for PAVO Basic Line Judge Certification in the season (June 1 to June 1) prior to candidacy. Reference the Basic Line Judge Certification Standards outlined above
- Attend a PAVO National Rating Team (NRT) site and be successfully evaluated by the PAVO National Rating Team. The number of NRT candidates is limited. Using the National Line Judge Candidacy Application, apply to attend a Line Judge NRT site by the due date announced in official PAVO communication and on the PAVO website.
- Term - National Line judge certification expires on December 31, four years after the year in which the rating is awarded.
- Acceptance - All applications will be evaluated by the NRT Director and the Director of Line Judge Training and Development, who will make the final determination of acceptance to an NRT site.
Maintaining a National Line Judge Certification
Any questions related to this process may be directed to Dan Swensen, PAVO Director of Line Judge Training and Development, at linejudge.director@pavo.org
Each year within the term, National Line Judges are required to:
- Join a PAVO Affiliated Board as either a Referee Member (Standard membership) or a Line Judge/Scorer Member (Associate membership). (NOTE: A late fee will be assessed when completing registration on or after August 15.
- Attend (or instruct) a line judge clinic as described above.
- If the above criteria are met by instructing a line judge clinic, submit a statement/form describing the location and date of the clinic and the administrator/sponsor (PAVO board, conference, institution, etc.).
- By September 1 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time, take the current Line Judge Exam, online. Completion of this requirement will be verified by the PAVO Central Office.
If a National Line Judge fails to meet any of the above requirements once in a renewal term, the line judge is ineligible to receive renewal points for that season. Failure to meet any of these requirements twice during one renewal term will result in loss of National Line Judge certification.
Renewing a National Line Judge Certification
National Line Judge Certification may be renewed through continued demonstration of excellence as a line judge. The Point Renewal System may be used in lieu of renewing by repeating the initial certification requirements above. A renewal fee of $25 is charged to renew using the point system.
- Six (6) points must be earned during the four-year certification term.
- A minimum of three (3) of the six (6) total points must be earned in Category I.
- A maximum of four (4) points per certification term can be earned in Categories II and III.
- Positions such as a referee, scorer, alternate official, etc. do not qualify for line judge renewal points.
- The remaining points can be earned from any combination of the three categories.
Download the National Line Judge Certification Renewal Options and the Point Renewal System document here.
Criteria for Retired National Line Judges
A PAVO National Line Judge may choose to take retired status and maintain an affiliation with PAVO in order to remain active as a trainer for the Affiliated Board with whom they are associated/registered. PAVO has established the following criteria:
• Hold a National Line Judge certification for at least two, four-year terms.
• Meet all requirements for Affiliated Board membership and PAVO membership.
The Application for Retired National Status must be submitted to the Director of Line Judge Training and Development (Dan Swensen, linejudge.director@pavo.org) by December 1 of the year your National Line Judge certification will expire. The application must be signed by the applicant and the Chair of the member's Affiliated Board.
Direct questions to Lynette Muller, Executive Administrator, PAVO Central Office at pavo@pavo.org or (316) 788-4035.
Direct technical questions to PAVOhelp@gmail.com.