By Staff
Joey Weaver admitted he feared the worst. The coordinator of the newly formed Escambia County Volleyball Officials Association said he would not have been surprised if nobody had applied for a spot. Instead 15 people applied to officiate games this fall.
The need for the Escambia County Volleyball Officials Association became necessary when the North Baldwin County Officials Association dropped all Escambia County schools from its working area midway through the summer. Monroe County High School was also affected by the decision.
Prospective officials were given a rules test. They also went through a clinic that taught court stance and mechanics. Eight of the officials got a game tune-up Tuesday at T.R. Miller High School's Red/White scrimmage game.
our working territory Thursday and those eight were the ones who got to work those games. The other seven had some commitments and couldn't be at the T.R. Miller scrimmage, and I understand that. Everybody is going to get about the same number of games on a rotating schedule. I'm sure that number will fluctuate a little bit if people have other commitments on certain days,” Weaver said.
Of the 15 officials who have applied, Weaver said four have some volleyball officiating
experience. Weaver said the average age of the officials is about the mid 40s.
While Weaver said most volleyball rules are easy to pick up, there are some tricky areas.
Weaver said coaches will need to show some patience with officials this season.
Weaver gives a lot of credit to T.R. Miller coach Sharon Peacock for getting the association started.