Additional information about the certification process for new, prospective USAV referees, including clinic and training/evaluation tournament dates, sites and times, will be available on this website by mid-October. The program includes the following phases:

1. Attendance is mandatory at one of the two OVR New Official's Clinics. Attendance at any other officiating clinics is not permitted. Prospective officials' clinics will be held in Columbus (December 2) and Cuyahoga Falls (January 6) in the Cleveland/Akron/Kent area. Sign up online at https://www.ovr.org/officiating/new_official_signup.php.

2. Pre-registration for one of these clinics must be completed online at this website prior to attendance at the clinic. There is a $25 non-refundable registration fee for the clinic. Checks are payable to the Ohio Valley Region and may be paid upon arrival at the clinic or mailed to:

   Brian Hemelgarn
   OVR Referees' Chair
   2715 W. Stein Road
   La Salle, MI 48145

3. In addition to pre-registering online for a clinic, prospective officials must download the Prospective Official's Data Sheet, print it and fill it out completely. The data sheet must be submitted with the clinic registration fee to Brian Hemelgarn at the address above.

4. At the conclusion of each mandatory clinic, prospective referees, who wish to continue with the certification process, must submit an additional $50 training/evaluation fee. In addition, applicants will indicate their preference for attendance at a one of the designated training/evaluation tournaments. Every effort will be made to accommodate each applicant's first preference; however, due to the limited number of openings at each tournament, applicants may be assigned to their second or third choice. After being notified of the tournament to which they have been assigned, refunds will not be granted to applicants who do not consequently fulfill their training/evaluation tournament assignment. Applicants who immediately indicate unavailability for their assigned tournament will be refunded the $50 fee.

5. Once accepted, each applicant must complete the online USAV Form C rules exam prior to attendance at the training/evaluation tournament. (Details will be distributed at the clinic.)

6. The Ohio Valley Region will accept prospective officials as candidate referees based upon those who have attended one of the mandatory, new officials' clinics; completed the Prospective Official's Data Sheet; and submitted the $50 fee as indicated above. The $50 application/training/evaluation fee will be returned to any applicant not accepted for any reason. (Note: The $25 clinic fee is non-refundable.)

7. Candidate referees will receive at least two referee training matches and one scorekeeper training match at their assigned tournament. They will subsequently be evaluated on at least two matches (R1/R2), and also a match as scorekeeper (all three are pass/fail), to determine their competency to receive a USAV Junior Olympic or Provisional referee rating.

8. Candidates who successfully complete the evaluation process will then need to register as OVR-USAV members ($50) and submit to the USAV background screening process ($20). These fees must be paid at the conclusion of the training/evaluation tournament. The background screening process requires at least 5 business days to complete. For more information on the background screening process, see the Background Screening Overview.

9. Upon verification of the background check, candidates will become a fully certified USAV referees, and only at that time will they be permitted to accept USAV tournament officiating assignments in the OVR. Candidates who do not satisfy the background screening process will be refunded only the $50 USAV-OVR registration fee. The $25 clinic fee, $50 training/evaluation fee and $20 background screening fee are not refundable after the background screen has been completed.