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. Certified line judges will receive certification, a "Certified Line Judge" patch, liability insurance coverage, a subscription to the Official Word newsletter, PAVO member discounts on travel, events, and merchandise, and access to the NCAA Central Hub. Current-year rule interpretation newsletters, messages from the National Coordinator, and other important seasonal information are only available on 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 any PAVO State or National referee, a PAVO Nationally-certified line judge, any NCAA Division I conference assignor/coordinator, 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 Examination, corrected to 100%, and signed by an approved PAVO clinic instructor; and,
- Three recommendation signatures from any approved PAVO clinic instructor. Signatures must be obtained from at least two different individuals, and be based on at least one 25-point set. 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 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 (316-788-4035).
Renewing a Line Judge Certification
Certification expires annually on June 1
- Join a PAVO Affiliated Board as either a Standard member or an Associate member, 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 Examination, corrected to 100%, and signed by an approved PAVO clinic instructor; and,
- One written recommendation signature (see description above) annually.
Application Process and Candidate Criteria
Any questions related to this process may be directed to Dan Swensen, PAVO Line Judge Director, 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 certification during the two (2) volleyball seasons immediately preceding the year for application for National Line Judge 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 Line Judge Director, at linejudge.director@pavo.org
1. 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.
2. 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 The Official Word and on the PAVO website.
3. Term - National Line judge certification expires on December 31, four years after the year in which the rating is awarded.
4. Acceptance - All applications will be evaluated by the NRT Director, 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 Line Judge Director, at linejudge.director@pavo.org
Each year within the term, National Line Judges are required to:
- Join a PAVO Affiliated Board as either a Standard or Associate member. A late fee of $25 for Associate members or $45 for Standard members is imposed for dues paid after July 1.
- Attend (or instruct) a line judge clinic as described above.
- If the above criteria is 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 Examination, online.
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.
- The remaining points can be earned from any combination of the three categories.
- Working as a referee, scorer, alternate official, etc. does not qualify for line judge renewal points.
Download the National Line Judge Certification Renewal Options and the Point Renewal System document here.
One point is awarded for each item in Category I, II, or III, as a line judge or line judge trainer.
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 applicatoin 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.