Personal and professional experiences shared at historic ERC seminar for female referees

Talented female Volleyball and Beach Volleyball referees from as many as 17 countries have come together this weekend in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, for a seminar organised by the European Refereeing Commission (ERC). The event was special in a way that it involved some of the female referees that had previously attended the very first such seminar run by the CEV some 14 years ago in Rome, Italy. These have ever since developed and matured into some of the best Volleyball and Beach Volleyball international referees that European Volleyball can rely on and did share their wealth of experience with their younger colleagues – who are due to compose the next generation of high-level female referees. The seminar, run under the motto ‘Turning ideas into reality - When dreams come true’ was a major success for all involved. 

ERC President Zorica Bjelic and ERC Secretary Arturo Di Giacomo did moderate the seminar. Ms Bjelic opened the seminar by recalling the ‘early days’ of 2010, when the first such workshop was organised in Rome with a focus specifically on the promotion of female referees. The event in Italy’s capital followed a historic achievement the year before – when Ms Bjelic herself and Spain’s Susana Maria Rodriguez Jativa had become the first female referees to officiate the gold medal match of a ‘senior’ European Championship, doing so when Italy beat the Netherlands in Lodz, Poland, in the early fall of 2009. 

Much work has been done and achieved since 2010 to promote and support the role of female referees in international Volleyball. Ms Rodriguez Jativa was among those to share her own personal and professional experiences with the attendees – together with Beach Volleyball international referee Sandra Deveza of Portugal. 

After a Q&A session revolving around the theme ‘Being a female referee’, ERC Member and FIVB Instructor Oana Sarb took the floor to discuss the evolution of female Beach Volleyball referees, the challenges they still face and the expectations they need to fulfil. Saturday’s session ended with a presentation delivered by Polish Volleyball referee Agnieszka Michlic and a focus on mental strength discussed by Montenegrin former national team player, now psychologist Andrea Lakovic. The seminar ended on Sunday with a panel discussion on the topic ‘The pros and cons during a refereeing career’. 

The ERC seminar was attended by the following female referees: Nina Hobi (Austria), Kristina Pantelic Babic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Ksenija Jurkovic (Croatia), Mathilde Hayaux du Tilly (France), Jennifer Hesse (Germany), Theodora Kyriopoulou and Eleni Trachalaki (Greece), Agnes Batkai-Katona (Hungary), Dominga Lot (Italy), Sonja Simonovska (Montenegro), Bente Skaug Hermansen (Norway), Agnieszka Myszkowska and Magdalena Niewiarowska (Poland), Raquel Portela (Portugal), Mirela Beatrice Mateizer (Romania), Aleksandra Sucur and Stanislava Simic (Serbia), Diana Maria Rico Sanchez (Spain), and Selin Güclü (Türkiye). 

The Mayor of Cluj-Napoca, Emil Boc, attended the opening of the seminar, thereby seizing this opportunity to review what the city is doing to supporting sports activities. Moreover, in his address, Mr Boc stressed the key role that referees play in sport and in society by promoting the key values of integrity, impartiality, and fair play. The city of Cluj-Napoca has a strong connection with Volleyball – especially after it did host pool matches of the CEV EuroVolley 2021 Women with much success. The continental elite competition will return to Cluj-Napoca in 2026 when the city will host the pool stage of the CEV EuroVolley 2026 Men. 

The ERC leadership wish to thank the Romanian Volleyball Federation and the local authorities for their support in the organisation of a seminar that will certainly help break new ground to support the participation and promotion of female referees in elite sport.