Bangkok, Thailand, February 23, 2015 – The AVC Referees Committee have urged the Asian referees to improve on their English communication skills in an effort of ensuring quality to meet criteria for evaluation that develops international referees’ standards.

A total of 12 members of the AVC Referees Committee chaired by Mr Songsak Chareonpong participated in their annual meeting between February 23 and 24 at Dusit Princess Hotel in the Thai capital city Bangkok, with AVC’s Secretary-General Shanrit Wongprasert and Dr Ruengsak  Siriphol, General Manager of the AVC Headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, jointly presiding over the opening on Monday morning.

“The year 2015 reflects a significant turning point for AVC as new rules and regulations of the game have been applied for use.  Therefore, we have to catch up with what the FIVB have decided during its World Congress in 2014 and the FIVB Commissions in Lausanne, Switzerland early this year. AVC and its affiliated member countries have to realise new rules decided by the FIVB. At the same time, they must be alert and well-prepared for any changes in and off the competition court,” Shanrit delivered his opening speech.

On behalf of the organisers, Dr Ruengsak said, “This is the first time that I see you all in different positions. It’s also the first time that the AVC Referees Committee Meeting took place here in Bangkok after it had been  held in China for 17 years. We, as the organisers, have tried our best to make this meeting a success although it’s likely that inconvenience and problems might be found. I wish you all a pleasant stay during the two-day meeting here.”

The AVC Referees Committee Chairman Mr Songsak  thanked the Thailand Volleyball Association and the AVC for their kind support for this meeting. He also welcomed Kuwaiti Abdullah Al Enezi who made his presence felt in the meeting.

In the beginning of the meeting, Mr Songsak quoted the FIVB’s and AVC’s Honorary President Mr Wei Jizhong as saying that Mr Wei chaired the Control Committee in the Bahrain-hosted Asian Men’s U20 Volleyball Championship in Manama last October. The president pointed out that some of the referees on duty in that tournament needed to buck up their ideas because their standards fell unacceptably low.

“I think that sometimes, the accompanying referees stand a chance to officiate in AVC competitions  because he is given a bonus to carry on a major duty before he later calls it a day,” Mr Songsak said.

“According to the new rules and regulations initiated by the FIVB, which has been effective since January 1, 2015, any candidate referee must take the pre-International Referee Course prior to taking the International Referee Course. He can’t become a candidate referee unless he passes both courses.”

One of the main topics raised during the two-day meeting was the poor English communication skill of Asian referees.

“So far, we (the Referees Committee) have divided the international referees into three groups and classified them according to their performances. We proposed their names to the FIVB due to their high level performances ranging from A to C. The referees who get A can officiate in major tournaments such as the Olympics, World Grand Prix (Finals), World Cup and World League (Finals), while B-rated referees can be nominated for AVC tournaments and C for young referees. However, as we proposed our referees to the FIVB, their English communication skill has also been taken for consideration. The referees with A level can be relegated to B level due to their poor English communication skill. That’s the reason why we have to upgrade the Asian referees’ English proficiency. They have to gain more refereeing experiences aside from improving English skills,” Mr Songsak continued.

After that, the Referee Delegates in previous year’s competitions came up with their individual reports and comments.

“The evaluation for each referee should be done according to what you see, not what you think. If you (Referees Committee) judge the referee from what you think, he might get “good” or sometime “very good” despite the fact that he should get “poor” as he came up with below-par performances,” he said.

Meanwhile, Beach Volleyball Coordinator Mr Thomas Chang urged the AVC to hold more beach volleyball referee courses.

In conclusion, Mr Songsak said that seminars or training for the Asian referee chairmans will be held in three different areas as follows: First,  seminars or training for Southeast Asia in combination with East Asia will take place in Bangkok. Second, West Asia and Central Asia will be held in either India or Bahrain, and third,  Oceania.

“In terms of the Asian Seniors competition, we urged each participating team to give us three candidate referees in order that we can assign the best one to be on duty in that championship,” Mr Songsak concluded.