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New Member Welcome

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Welcome to the Connecticut Board of Volleyball Officials (CBVO). The CBVO is the training and assigning board for high schools in the Litchfield, Hartford, Tolland, and part of New Haven counties. Before beginning the process of applying for membership, please read the following information.

The process starts with the application. Completing the application allows us to add to the email list that will help to keep you up to date. Applications received today will be saved and treated as an application for the 2025 season. As you read the information below, note: any reference to ‘1st year’ officials means the new class: YOU.

Applications:

The CBVO looks forward to helping all interested parties become volleyball officials. Feel free to contact our training coordinator, Chris Kelly, at hartfordguy@hotmail.com, to answer any questions, or click on the links below to apply for membership.

Fees:

  • A one-time training fee of $110 is required from trainees. This covers training expenses and a background check through the CIAC.
  • Yearly CBVO membership dues are $100.
  • Mail all materials to:
    Jeff Brewer
    8 Caulkins Rd
    Norwich, CT 06360

General Information:

  • Most volleyball matches are played on weekdays, with some on Saturday. Weekday matches usually begin at 4pm, with some matches starting later. Officials need to arrive at the gym no later than one half hour before the match, so if you cannot get to school gyms by 3:30 (allow for driving time) you may not get scheduled for many matches.
  • Officials are required to buy their own uniforms and equipment.
  • Trainees are required to score 80% or better on an open book test to become CBVO officials. (Rules and case books are provided as part of yearly dues).
  • Typically, officials’ pay ranges from around $70 for a freshman match, to almost $140 for a JV & varsity doubleheader. (see 2022 Fees Schedule for reference)

 

Training Dates (2025):

Trainee Overview & Orientation

Sun. June 15 6pm via Zoom

Trainees will be informed on procedures and practices such as: Insurance, purchasing an official CBVO shirt, using the Arbiter system to submit your availability to our schedulers, getting paid, and paying assigner fees.  This session is an overview of officiating high school sports.  It is important that prospective officials attend this session prior to attending the CBVO Volleyball Officiating classes.

Times for the rest of the training are from 6:00 – 8:30pm:

  • Thursday June 19 Glastonbury High  (This session is for 1st-3rd year officials)
  • Sunday June 22 Zoom
  • Thursday June 26 Glastonbury High
  • Sunday June 29 Zoom
  • Thursday July 3
  • Sunday July 6 Zoom
  • Thursday July 10 Glastonbury High
  • Sunday July 13 Zoom
  • Thursday July 17 Glastonbury High

On-court Sessions – Times are from 6pm – 9:30pm

On-court will be scheduled as one evening session per official per week, but we will make every effort to accommodate those with scheduling difficulties. Typically, new trainees will be scheduled on Monday and Tuesdays and 2nd and 3rd year officials will be scheduled on Mondays & Thursdays.  These dates are dependent on the determination of existing leagues, and we have no power to change the dates that they play. The dates will be assigned to you and it is not the case the you will be assigned to every session.

Mondays Tuesdays  
     
July 7 July 8  
July 14 July 15  
July 21 July 22  
July 28 July 29  
Aug 4 Aug 5  
Aug 11 Aug 12

Two Mandatory Meetings:  The CT Board of Volleyball Officials has two mandatory meetings per year.  These dates for 2025 are potentially:

Tues. Aug. 28 – 6:30 pm – Pre-season Rules Interpretation meeting
Sun. Nov (TBA) – Time- TBA – End-of-season meeting  (Probably Nov 16)

 

Officially in Short Supply

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Hartford Courant, Oct 11, 2020

Heather Kursman normally loses four or five volleyball officials before every high school season, due to retirement, job changes or other life changes.

This year was different.

“I lost the biggest percentage of officials this year — at least 40%,” she said. “Like 25-26 officials.”

Kursman, of East Hampton, is the scheduler for the Connecticut Board of Volleyball Officials north division, which serves the central part of the state ranging from Meriden to Enfield to Windham. She’s been involved in volleyball officiating for 35 years.  Read more.

Training Update: NFHS Center Extended to 7/31

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Given the shutdown of the state and the uncertainty with what will be happening in the upcoming weeks and months, the spring training sessions previously announced have been cancelled.

Several online training resources have recently been announced:

The National Federation of High Schools (NFHS) Learning Center is offering FREE selected officiating courses until July 31. These same courses are perfect for those interested in becoming an volleyball official! Take advantage of this opportunity to sharpen your officiating skills without spending a dime. Specifically, two free volleyball officiating courses are “Officiating Volleyball: Alignment” and “Officiating Volleyball: Ball Handling“.  You will need to register for a NFHS account if you do not have one already, login using that account, then choose the course(s).  The courses will be free upon checkout.

The Alignment course provides the basics of player positioning and alignment, common serve-receive and receiving team positions, and tools and techniques for recognizing illegal alignments.

The Ball Handling course gives an overview of tips and techniques that officials need to make correct ball handling calls. Video examples of various contacts by each position are provided to assist officials in visually identifying ball handling faults. This course teaches and shows the difference between legal and illegal contacts, helping officials be more consistent in their ball handling calls

NFHS Learning Center also has other general officiating courses that may be of interest to CBVO members.

Preseason Meeting: March 8

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This is a reminder that the pre-season meeting is at the CIAC lower level at 6pm on March 8th. Your $10 dues are due at this time. A $10 fine is also due if you are not attending the meeting. Please mail both to Ruth Hewston, 6 Haller Place, Yalesville, CT 06492.
Thank you

See you at the meeting
Ruth