Re: service reception rule change (beach/outdoor/local rules)

[Todd <tdh@vbref.org>]

"Scott R. Furtwengler" <decon@siu.edu> writes:
> 
> Howdy, all
> I would like to post this to get your opinions/reactions as well as vent
> my frustration over the silliness of the following:
> I am on a team in a men's A league (beach). We just started a new season
> Wednesday night and the organizer informed us that recieving serves with
> the overhead pass style is outawed. 

<rant>

Oh no!  More local leagues trying to make homer rules that confuse
people even more.  Joe Arkin and I will say it loud:

        If multiple sanctioned rulesets in the US is a crime (and it
        is...but we're coping), adding local rules on top of any one
        of them should be a felony.

Standards are a Good Thing.  Proprietary things (including rulesets)
are Bad.

The rule/situation you mention is particularly bad, because the
first-team-contact rules for USAV outdoor are already hugely
misunderstood.  Almost no one really understands the hard-driven ball
clause relates only to lifts/carries, nor do the masses understand why
setting the first ball outdoors is harder to do w/o being called for a
double than it is indoors.  

You're quite right, they don't need a rule that says "overhand passes
on the first ball are illegal" since rules regarding such a contact
already exist, and describe what's a double and what's a carry. What
they need to is simply educate the players on the accepted USAV or
FIVB rule rather than making a pedestrian rule of thumb that confuses
people more than it helps clarify things.  


Education can be found here (I hope):

        http://www.aceitup.com/rules.html#emphasis


I worked with the local organization that runs most of the sand
tournaments in the greater Chicago area to create a page on the
tournament web site that clearly spells this out...primarily for my
own sanity during the tournaments in which I played.  I also use this
as an outline for captains meetings in outdoor leagues and
tournaments.


        http://www.aceitup.com/rules.html


Here, I tried very hard to unambiguously state which rules were being
used for MVP tournaments, and also explain the
most-frequently-misunderstood rules on the beach.  



> During the course of our match I forgot this about three times and
> gave up three points. After the match I asked the organizer why in
> the world such a change in rules was made, especially when the rest
> of the volleyball world (as far as I know) has allowed the overhead
> pass for service reception. His response was that at the captains'
> meeting some of the captains present suggested it should be outlawed
> since so many of the players can't do it well. They voted on it and
> won. I couldn't believe it. 


I wonder how many people voted who have never read a rulebook in its
entirety.  I do feel your pain.  

> Am I being too anal about this?  Or should I protest a little more?
> Scott

No you're not.  I certainly would pursue it further, but I tend to be
a little anal-retentive me-self. :-) 

Really, it's insulting to A players to have unnecessary local rules.
Pick a recognized sanctioned ruleset such as USAV Beach and use it!
If you have an extraordinaryly good reason for doing so, add a local
rule concerning match format, etc., but leave the ball handling rules
alone.  There are too many variations and misconceptions running
around the US already.


Ah....I feel better now.
</rant>


Best Regards,
--
                  Todd H.   tdh@vbref.org
USAV Regional Referee, Great Lakes Region, Palatine, IL
Todd's Volleyball Referee Page http://www.io.com/~tdh/vball/
"So you're a Ref and an engineer? Oh that explains it...."