Amateur refereeing and self-refereeing

Three models, all legitimate

External referee for each court. The best and most expensive solution in terms of people: you need one person per court for the whole day. If you have young players from a club willing to help, this is the preferred route — and it is worth giving them some token of appreciation, even if it is just lunch.

Rotation refereeing among teams. The resting team referees. This is the most common formula in amateur tournaments and it works, on two conditions: that it is written in the regulations (who referees what, according to the schedule) and that the referee on duty is not interested in the outcome of the match they are officiating. When in doubt, have a team from another group referee.

Self-refereeing. The two teams on court referee themselves. This is the most fragile option and, if the conventions are clear, the only viable one in beach tournaments and tournaments with many courts and few people.

Self-refereeing conventions

They only work if established beforehand and valid for all courts:

1. Net touches and net violations are called by the player who commits them. This might seem naive: it is the only rule that does not cause arguments, because whoever touches the net feels it, and no opponent can dispute an admission.
2. In or out is called by the team in whose court the ball lands. They are the ones who see it best, and they have no interest in lying about a ball they have lost anyway.
3. Double touches and caught balls are called by the player who plays them, or not called at all. These are the most subjective fouls: a declared tolerance is better than a variable standard.
4. When in doubt, replay the point. A replayed point costs thirty seconds; an argument costs ten minutes and the good mood of ten people.
5. Any challenge must be made immediately, before the next service. After that, the score stands. This is the procedural rule that matters more than all the others.

If you are refereeing: where to stand and what to watch

A referee in an amateur tournament does not need a high chair: standing upright at the side of the net is enough, so you can see the vertical plane of the net and the centre line. From that position, you can easily judge net touches, line violations, balls passing outside the antennae, and back-row attacks.

What to watch, in order of priority:

• the plane of the net, because that is where the fouls that decide points happen;
• the moment of the service hit, for foot faults on the line and service order;
• the ball on its way out, delegating calls where you do not have a clear view to the teams.

What not to watch: positions at the moment of service. In an amateur tournament, calling a positional fault requires a level of attention you do not have and leads to arguments disproportionate to the advantage gained. If the regulations explicitly exclude it, everyone knows where they stand.

The hand signals you actually need

You do not need the full set of official federation hand signals. You need five clear signals, always used in the same way:

• arm extended towards the serving team: point and right to serve;
• palm facing upwards: ball in / valid point;
• arms raised with palms facing forward: ball out;
• hand touching the forearm or the net: indication of the foul committed;
• hands in a T-shape: time-out.

Above all signals, the one thing that makes an amateur referee credible is: their voice. Saying "out", "in", "net", "point" out loud settles the matter before it even starts.

What to be strict about and what not

Strict, always:

• foot over the line on service (easy to see, easy to correct);
• the 8 seconds to serve, if the tournament is running late;
• the number of touches (four touches is not a matter of opinion);
• behaviour: repeated protests, insults, dangerous play.

Tolerant, declaring it beforehand:

• double touches and caught balls in reception and emergency sets;
• positional faults, if the regulations exclude them;
• crossing the centre line under the net that does not interfere with play.

The criterion that holds everything together is the only one players truly judge: the same standard for the whole match and for all teams. A tolerant and consistent referee is respected; a strict and inconsistent one is not.

Who keeps score

A practical point that affects refereeing more than it seems: the score is kept by a single person, who calls it out loud at every side-out. The bitterest arguments of a tournament day do not arise from a foul: they arise from the score, when two teams count from memory and realise they disagree at 19-all.

If the scorer is at the side of the court with a tablet, the score is visible to everyone, remains recorded, and goes straight into the group standings: no one has to copy down set scores and no one can remember them differently.

Disputes

Despite everything, an unresolvable case will arise. The regulations must state who decides and how: usually the organiser, after hearing both captains, with an immediate and unappealable decision. If there is a match event log — who scored and when — the reconstruction is objective and the decision takes two minutes instead of twenty.