The USA Volleyball Rules Commission has been restructured to reflect changes to the Operating Code of USA Volleyball that were adopted in 2018.
The basic mission/responsibilities of the commission are to:
- Review the Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) Rules of Play and make recommendations for play in the United States codified in the USA Volleyball Rulebook. The FIVB is the international governing body for the sports of indoor and beach volleyball and the World ParaVolley for sitting volleyball.
- Identify and implement the testing of changes to the rules where the commission may see a compelling need for differences from the international level.
- Recommend a publication format for the USA Rulebook that includes:
- FIVB and World ParaVolley (WPV) rules with safety notations and translation commentaries;
- Modifications for outdoor, developmental recreational and other play;
- Modifications for special categories of play to include Co-Ed, Reverse Co-Ed and other rules as requested by Member Organizations; and
- Modifications for USA Volleyball nationally sanctioned championship events.
- Send a commission member to represent the commission at the meeting of the rules committees of the NCAA, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) and of any other organization deemed appropriate by the commission.
Members
The USA Volleyball CEO appoints the chair for the commission. Recommendations from the commission are directed to the CEO for review and action, if any. Pati Rolf, USA Volleyball’s director of officials development, is the liaison for the commission to USAV.
Appointments to the commission are recommended by the chair and approved by the CEO. In addition to the chair, the members of the commission consist of voting members, nonvoting representatives and invited guests. The composition of the committee is also designed to balance input from the representatives of the three disciplines that USA Volleyball rules cover: beach, indoor and sitting volleyball.
The voting members of the Rules Commission include a representation of individuals to represent the three volleyball disciplines as well as representation for junior girls and boys volleyball and representation from the USA Volleyball regional volleyball associations.
The voting members of the USA Volleyball Rules Commission are:
Chair: Julie Voeck
FIVB Rules of the Game Commission: Pat Powers
USA Volleyball Indoor Regional Volleyball Association Representative: Kevin Wendelboe
USA Volleyball Beach Regional Volleyball Association Representative: Cindy M. Compoc
Junior Indoor Girls Representative: Walt Weaver
Junior Indoor Boys Representative: Aric Anderson
Junior Beach Representative: Lisa DiGiacinto
World ParaVolley: Joe Campbell
USA Volleyball Indoor Rules Interpreter: Bill Stanley
USA Volleyball Beach Rules Interpreter: Glenn Sapp
The Rules Commission also includes nonvoting representation from the NCAA, PAVO and NFHS. These organizations develop rules and educate officials for volleyball competition that are not based on FIVB rules.
The members of the commission representing these organizations are:
NCAA Women’s Representative: TBD
NFHS Representative: Lindsey Atkinson
PAVO Representative: Brian Hemelgarn
In addition, the commission seeks to gain widespread input across volleyball constituencies that utilize USA Volleyball rules as a basis for competition. The commission thus includes invited guests represented by the following organizations:
AAU Representative: Joyce Cooney
NAIA Men’s and Women’s Representative: Donan Cruz
NCAA Men’s Representative: Ron Shayka
NCVF Representative: Dan Kitchel
Special Olympics, Incorporated: Rick Laskey
YMCA Representative: TBD
2019 and 2020 Rules Commission Meetings
Similar to other rule governing bodies, USA Volleyball develops rules on a two-year cycle. The Rules Commission met Feb. 27-28, 2019 in Denver, Colo., to consider potential rule changes for the 2019-2021 season. The USAV Rulebook was published for the 2019-2020 season which began in September 2019.
The 2020 Rules Commission meeting will be Feb. 26-27, 2020, in Denver.