DAPHNE, Alabama — The North Baldwin Volleyball Officials Association and Bayside Academy held an officials preseason scrimmage in the Lady Admirals’ Louise Moorer Gym Saturday.

About 10 varsity and eight junior-varsity teams from both sides of Mobile Bay took part.

The preseason official’s scrimmage is primarily to help volleyball referees warm up for the fast-approaching season and also to break in some new rookies as well, said Southwest director of volleyball officials for the Alabama High School Athletic Association Lane Lawley who has been overseeing the scrimmage program in conjunction with NBVOA President Cynthia Ellis for several years.

“It’s been a great thing for us and it also benefits the coaches and the players,” Lawley said. “We appreciate coach (Ann) Schilling for hosting it this year and I also have to thank our visiting expert and observer Sue Mailhot for coming down from Nebraska and providing her insights. We try to stay on top of our game just like the players and their coaches do. With rule changes from year to year we always have work to do before the season starts and Cynthia does a great job of recruiting and keeping good people to have ready to go. This is really just part of our annual clinic that we call district camp. Sue ran it for us this year and it was great along with our coaches panel. Coach Schilling was on there and we appreciate all the coaches taking the time to go over everything with us. It was about four hours of orientation and lecture and discussion, but we feel it’s very beneficial for all involved. And we do it every year, but it’s nice when we can bring someone in with some different input like Sue. And even if it’s just one thing that they pick up that might help them as officials during the year, that’s progress for them and everybody. That’s our goal, to get better.”

Mailhot is Executive Director of Great Plains Volleyball Officials and is certified as a national referee, a collegiate referee trainer and as an international volleyball scorer.

“I’ve known Lane for a long time and we both have a passion for officiating and for teaching officiating,” she said. “And we both want to bring the best out of each person whether it’s somebody that’s been doing it for years or just getting into it. It’s a calling and the best officials I think feel that way.

“I appreciate being invited down here. I’m not really here to introduce anything new, but just to observe, provide some insight and basically offer some encouragement. Because— like Lane was saying, he could go over the same things, but— it seems to stick or sink in a little better when someone comes in from another part of the country and says it maybe in a different way.”

Lori Lawley, who assigns referees for the NBVOA high-school matches in Baldwin County and also is a certified collegiate referee, said there is a method and logic to assigning officials to games which use two professionals and two volunteers on the line calls such as most high school matches in Alabama are scheduled.

“We like to pair more experienced officials with newer or younger ones during the regular season. And that’s important when you only have two officials,” she said. “We do that during the regular season so the newer or younger ones can build up more experience and have someone who’s been there in different situations to help them out if there’s a question and there usually is. Also, when you rotate people like that you get different feedback and learn more, faster. So, we don’t start putting the veterans together until later, like the playoffs. But meanwhile we have built up more time for the younger ones with real game-time experience for the future.

“For the bigger matches I like to look at the experience factor, not just in terms of years, but also who has worked well together and basically are two who seem to be on the same page. In other words, they know what they are calling and what the other official is calling and they know when to get together and how to handle a problem with the scoring or with a rule question.”

Ellis, who was named Alabama Official of the Year in 2010, said the NBVOA has about 30 active game officials ready for this season which begins next week. She has been officiating high-school volleyball for the past 14 years from the area level to the elite-eight state tournament. Schilling also said the annual scrimmage has been good for all the parties involved.

“It helps us get going and out of the routine of practice. It’s kind of a wake-up call I guess and it’s especially good for the younger ones because they are playing with real officials with real whistles and they get a taste of what’s next.”

The Lady Admirals open Aug. 23 at McGill-Toolen Catholic.

Former Fairhope and University of South Alabama standout Lacey Stejskal Powell, who coached at Foley before taking over the new Saraland program, was happy she brought her Lady Spartans to the scrimmage.

“I’m so glad we got to do this,” she said. “The atmosphere is a lot like a tournament with the crowd and the noise and different games going on. It’s something you can’t duplicate in practice and I’m sure it was a big help for us.

“We moved up to 5A this year so I’ll get to see more Baldwin County teams again. And it’s a good thing because with the move up to 5A we’ll get to compete with Spanish Fort and Gulf Shores at the regional level and I think my girls are definitely ready for it.”

Powell’s Saraland team opens at home Aug. 23 against Alma Bryant.