Welcome to the 2026-27 Florida Region USAV Season! We have some exciting changes and updates for our officials! There will be more details coming soon on all these topics but for now here are some important things to note.
Our Officials Division leadership structure has been updated for the new season. Sue Wainio is the Official’s Administration Chair and Joya Teter is the Official’s Education Chair. Both can be reached by email at [email protected]. Email is the preferred method of communication unless we are dealing with a time sensitive situation.
The first thing you should do now to get ready for the season is renew your membership. This will mean paying your membership dues, applying for and paying for your background screen and completing your SafeSport training. You can go to this link to the Florida Region website to accomplish this important task: https://floridavolleyball.org/memberships/ Be sure to choose the appropriate officials membership when you register. If you are both a coach and an official, choose the coach membership first then go back and “purchase” the official’s membership. Adding the second membership will not incur an additional fee.
Starting October 15, 2026 Provisional and Regional officials will be able to start online recertification training. The appropriate training course for your certification level will be added to your USAV Academy account on that date. The course must be completed preferably before you work your first tournament, but no later than January 8, 2027. New for this season we will have a communication system that will guide you through the steps you need to complete the recertification process. This will send you a personalized email as you move through the steps needed to recertify. More information is coming soon!
Many of you are already busy trying to get your schedules set for the new season. There will be changes to the process here that you should be happy to hear. We will handle the application and acceptance for ALL the Florida Region sanctioned tournaments through Otto Event, formerly SportWrench. You will apply as you have on SportWrench in the past, and the head official for the tournament select the approved officials the same way as in the past. What will be slightly different is the confirmation communication once you are approved for a tournament. This will allow us to consolidate to just one system, eliminating the need for ZebraWeb. Remember that once you are approved for an event, you are committed to that site and you should withdraw your application(s) to any other sites for that same weekend.
We are also working on updates to the new referee certification process as well as the upgrade process for Provisionals, Regionals and Jr Nationals. Details will be published by October 15, 2026. One significant change is that we will have three selected dates for prospective new officials to complete their on-court evaluations. This will allow us to concentrate our resources at those sites and provide an improved training experience. We will also be rolling out plans for expanded training and feedback for our existing officials. More information is coming soon on these exciting changes that will help our officials improve their skills.
Last but not least our website, Officials Handbook, Good Standing Policy and Florida Region’s Officials Professionalism Policy are being updated. You will be notified when we have these items completed.