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This is a photo of a volleyball brushing up against the top of the net during an MHSAA Finals match.

Be the Referee: Libero Ejected

By Paige Winne
MHSAA Director of Brand Management

September 8, 2026

Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.

Below is this week's segment – Libero Ejected - Listen

We’re on the volleyball court today, where the home team only had one libero listed.

In the middle of the first set, that libero is disqualified for making vulgar comments to the first referee.

Can the home team now designate a new libero? Or do they play without a libero for the rest of the match? Or for just the rest of that set before picking a new libero?

If you said they must play the rest of the set without a libero and then can designate a new one before the start of the second set, you are correct.

Remember, a libero is a back-row defensive specialist who focuses on passing and digging. They can’t attack the ball above the net or play on the front row – but can substitute in and out freely for back-row players without counting against official substitution limits.

Previous 2026-27 editions

Sept. 1: Soccer Foul After Shot on Goal - Listen
Aug. 25: Fumble Out of Bounds - Listen

Membership Mentality

September 16, 2014

The Michigan High School Athletic Association is a membership organization – an association of schools, not individuals – that usually doesn’t think of itself as such. Most member-based organizations work hard to recruit and retain members because member dues are an important revenue source.

That’s not true for the MHSAA which charges no membership dues, no sport sponsorship assessments and no tournament entry fees. The MHSAA is free to join and its tournaments are free to enter.

But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t think like a member-based organization or that none of the dynamics of membership-based organizations apply here.

For example, we are in the business of recruiting and retaining contest officials; and while we registered approximately 10,600 officials last year, that number is significantly lower than six years ago, and the average age is increasing. So, like any other member-based organization, we need strategies for attracting and holding new, young officials.

A new tactic launched this fall is the “Be The Referee” feature (Click Here) on a Lansing-based sports talk daily radio show and weekly television show. Our staff explains rules and points of emphasis, and then we make a pitch for new officials.

But the most fundamental strategy for recruiting and retaining officials is consistent, ceaseless efforts to improve officials’ working environment. This means improving the assigner-official relationship before events and the sportsmanship at events.

Ultimately, if assigners treat new officials unprofessionally and spectators treat them abusively, we have no chance to increase the numbers and decrease the age of MHSAA registered officials.