A  Case  Study  

• Can  you  remember  what  you  wanted  to  do  when  you  were  10  years  old?  

My  Journey  • 1995:  I  decided  I  should  do  more  than  just  play  volleyball..    • Jan  1997:  Australian  Beach  Volleyball  referee  course.  (Jan)  I  was  fast  tracked  as  I  was  a  player  • March  1997:  First  FIVB  World  Tour  event  Melbourne    •   August1997:  Attended  International  Referee  course,  Osaka  

I  became  the  first  female  International  Beach  Volleyball  referee  in  Asia  

• July  4  2000:  First  Gold  Medal  Match,  Chicago,  September  15  •   September  2000  –  Sydney  Olympic  Games  • July  2012  –  London  Olympic  Games  

Why  referee?  • Very  few  people  aspire  to  be  a  an  elite  level  referee  when  they  start  in  the  sport.    • Do  you  know  why  people  get  started  in  officiating  in  your  sport?  • How  do  you  identify  and  encourage  people  to  officiate?  

• How  many  women  does  your  sport  have  involved  in  officiating?  • Do  you  have  any  role  models?  • Sell  the  benefits  and  rewards  of  being  involved  in  officiating.  

What  Volleyball  looked  like  in  1990  onwards?  

• When  I  was  playing  in  Australia  I  knew  3  female  referees.    

• Australia  was  a  leader  in  Asia  for  allowing  females  to  reach  the  highest  level.  

• Before  I  qualified  as  an  international  referee  I  had  only  heard  of  3  other  women  on  the  beach.  (2  USA  and  1  Brazil)    

• A  Canadian  women  qualified  with  me  and  soon  after  another  Australian.    • Asia  had  more  Women’s  World  Tour  events  than  men    

Leadership  

•  It  is  important  it  was  to  see  other  women  refereeing.  

•  It  is  important  for  females  to  be  seen  at  all  levels.  

•  You  can  be  a  leader  without  realising  it  –  it  probably  took  me  about  10  years  to  see  myself  as  a  leader  

•  I  am  now  aware  of  the  important  role  I  have  played  in  helping  other  female  referees  

•  Amina  became  the  first  Olympic  Beach  Volleyball  referee  from  Africa.  I  was  able  to  share  a  room  and  provide  guidance  during  her  first  2  FIVB  World  Tour  events.  This  helped  her  to  get  used  to  the  level  of  competition  and  become  more  comfortable.  

Is  there    a  need  for  change?  •  Is  there  a  gender  imbalance  in  your  sport?    

•  Around  2000  FIVB  tried  to  increase  the  number  of  female  referees  at  Olympic  Games.  As  little  was  done  apart  from  setting  a  quota  little  really  changed  except  in  countries  that  hosted  Olympic  Games  –  Australia,  Greece  and  China.  

•  About  5  years  ago  FIVB  identified  that  they  needed  more  female  referees  and  made  it  a  priority.  

•  A  study  in  Europe  was  conducted  that  identified  it  took  7  years  for  a  female  International  Beach  Volleyball  referee  to  become  an  elite  international  beach  volleyball  referee.    This  was  a  key  factor  in  keeping  females  refereeing.  

•  Since  the  study  it  has  been  a  priority  to  increase  the  number  and  quality  of  female  referees.    

FIVB  are  keen  to  publicise    

“ Four referees wanting to just be "one of the referees”

“Iranian  Woman  to  Referee  at  FIVB  Volleyball  World  Grand  Prix  “  

•  It  is  important  to  have  role  models  –  when  I  started  I  was  lucky  enough  to  meet  2  of  the  3  more  experienced  female  referees  at  my  first  2  events.    

These 4 women were selected for the Women’s World Championships this year

The  Story  in  Australia      

•  I  discovered  that  Australia  had  gone  from  being  a  leader  in  female  referees  to  one  that  had  very  few  women  even  aiming  at  the  elite  level.  

• We  have  many  female  referees  at  Australian  Schools’  Cup  but  very  few  were  reaching  National  grade.    

• We  were  struggling  to  get  females  to  progress  and  those  who  did  were  not  staying  in  the  sport.  

•  Understand  the  issue–  shortage  of  female  referees  at  a  national  level.  

•  Develop  a  vision  –  this  should  be  consistent  with  stakeholders  

•  Identify  what  can  help  you  achieve  your  vision.  

•  I  worked  with  Volleyball  Australia  to  apply  for  a  Sport  Leadership  Grants  and  Scholarships  for  Women  

Sport  Leadership  Grants  and    Scholarships  for  Women  

•  To  use  my  Olympic  experience  in  London  as  a  way  of  getting  people  interested.  

•  Visit  every  state  –  work  with  a  female  referee  in  that  state  to  run  a  level  2  course  

•  Liaise  with  each  of  the  state  offices  so  they  are  aware  of  what  is  being  done.  

•  The  first  6  months  were  very  frustrating    -­‐  problems  with  communication,  getting  the  message  out  to  interested  parties  

•  Once  I  ran  the  first  course  we  started  getting  interest  

•  Northern  Territory  was  particularly  pleasing  

What  we  have  achieved  so  far  Level  2  •  SA  –  2  candidates  (Classic  

Volleyball)  

•  QLD  –  7  candidates  (Classic  Volleyball)  

•  NSW  –  21  candidates  (Classic  Volleyball)  

• WA  –  4  candidates  (Beach  Volleyball)  

Level  1  courses  •  Darwin  –  31  (15  women)  

•  Alice  Springs  –  6  (5  women)  

The  Future  –  Community  of  Excellence  

• From  the  courses  that  have  been  run  we  want  to  try  to  set  up  academies  in  each  state  

• We  are  in  the  process  of  ensuring  all  National  referees  have  a  mentor    

• We  are  also  bringing  goal  setting  as  a  means  of  ensuring  that  we  can  plan  for  the  future  

• We  are  currently  revising  all  our  referee  courses  

• We  are  creating  a  system  to  identify  which  referees  are  keen  and  able  to  move  up  to  the  next  level.  

Things  to  consider  • Don’t  work  in  isolation    

• Communicate  with  all  stakeholders  –  the  journey  is  much  easier  if  all  levels  of  the  organisation  are  working  towards  the  same  goals  

• While  encouraging  female  referees  take  care  that  all  referees  have  a  pathway  –  standards  still  matter  

•  FIVB  –  has  a  goal  to  increase  the  quantity  and  quality  of  female  referees  :  women  only  courses,  media  releases,  conferences  in  some  regions  –  I  made  use  of  this  when  communicating  with  the  states  and  applying  for  the  grant.  

•  Volleyball  Australia  –  used  my  journey    

•  Don’t  limit  the  pathway  referees  can  travel  

I  would  not  be  an  International  Beach  Volleyball  referee  if  the  following  had  not  happened.  

1.  Heather  Wells  had  not  qualified  referee  when  I  started  playing.  

2. David  smith  had  not  asked  me  to  sit  a  refereeing  course  for  Beach  Volleyball  

3.  Jacqui  Murdoch,  CEO  VVI  had  not  fought  for  a  local  female  referee  for  the  Gillette  FIVB  Melbourne  World  Tour  event,  1997.  

4. Andrew  Hircus  had  not  recommended  me  to  sit  an  International  Beach  Volleyball  Referee  course  

5.  Patti  Salvatore  had  not  recommended  me  to  go  to  Athens  

6.  FIVB  wanted  to  increase  the  number  of  female  referees  at  Sydney  Olympic  Games  

A  BIT  OF  BACKGROUND  • Volleyball  is  played  in  more  countries  than  any  sport.  

• It  has  been  an  Olympic  Sport  for  50  years.    

• Beach  Volleyball  since  1996  when  the  first  female  referee  was  selected.  

• At  the  recent  FIVB  World    

       Championships  in  Poland  the    

       opening  match  was  played  in    

         front  of  62,000  people.    

Volleyball  in  Australia  • Until  Sydney  2000  Volleyball  and  Beach  Volleyball  were  not  so  well  known.  Media  attention  from  a  gold  medal  makes  a  difference.  • Nat  Cook  is  the  only  player  from  any  country  to  play  in  all  Olympic  Games  Beach  Volleyball  has  been  in.  • More  recently  the  Volleyroos  qualified  for  World  League  finals  and  World  Championships  • We  have  had  referees  at  every  Olympic  Games  since  1996  except  2008.  

• Nat  Cook  and  Kerri  Pottharst  have  just  been  inducted  into  the  Sport  Australia  Hall  of  Fame