Albright Whistles World Title Match in Turkey

Bill Kauffman
Associate Director, Communications
Phone: 719-228-6800
Email: bill.kauffman@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 21, 2011) – Paul Albright (Atlanta), a USA Volleyball National Referee since 1996, was assigned the first referee position for the FIVB Volleyball Girls’ Youth World Championship Turkey 2011 gold-medal match on Saturday in Ankara, Turkey.

This year’s FIVB Girls’ Youth World Championship represented Albright’s first FIVB final round tournament, and he impressed the decision-makers during the matches leading up to the final day to warrant the first referee position for the gold-medal match in which Turkey defeated China 25-19, 25-17, 25-22 in front of a sell-out 7,200 fans at Baskent Volleyball Hall.

“It was such an honor just to be selected to work the event, and then to be nominated to work the finals is just incredible,” Albright said. “There are so many outstanding referees here from all over the world, and any one of them would have been an excellent choice to work the match. But I am very thankful that the referee committee for the event trusted me enough to assign me such an incredible match.”

Albright, who started his trek to become an international referee in 2003 by taking the international course in Mexico City, has donned the international referee uniform since 2007 after succeeding at the 2006 NORCECA Girls’ Youth Continental Championship. He later served as a referee at the 2008 NORCECA Men’s Junior Continental Championship in El Salvador, the 2010 Men’s Pan American Cup in Puerto Rico and the 2010 FIVB Men’s World Championship Third Round qualifying event held in 2009. Albright was also assigned as reserve referee for the 2011 FIVB World League matches between the United States and Brazil held in June 24-25 in Tulsa, Okla.

Albright, who has refereed almost all USA Volleyball Open National Championships since 1996, earned USA Volleyball’s Gold Whistle in 2007. He has served as head referee for several USA Volleyball Junior National Championships, as well as holding the head referee position at the Big South Qualifier for the past four years.

Albright, a native of Dayton, Ohio, but now living in Atlanta, is a member of the Southern Region Volleyball Association and is active in the referee program in that region as well as on the national level.

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