LNV Pro-A (Men) – Beauvais v Montpellier (LAM043)

Saturday 31 October 2009, 8pm at L’Elispace, Beauvais

Referees: Chaladay, Yanick (FRA) & MacIntyre, Grant (SCO)

Spectators: 1,100

Result: 2-3

20-25 (26 mins)
25-18 (34 mins)
25-19 (27 mins)
21-25 (30 mins)
13-15 (15 mins)

Total: 104-102 (132 mins)

An early start was required to get to Glasgow Airport for the 0925 flight to Paris CDG. The flight arrived 30 minutes ahead of schedule and after collecting my luggage, I took the CDGVAL shuttle from terminal 2B to terminal 3 which is right next to the Ibis Hotel. After checking in, I had time to rest and shower before Yanick came to collect me at 5pm for the drive to Beauvais.

We arrived in Beauvais just after 6pm and went for a coffee, this gave Yanick and I the opportunity to get to know each other better. We made our way to the hall where we met the court manager and we had a look around – everything appeared to be in order. Yanick was a bit concerned about the lack of tension in the net but he didn’t do anything about it which surprised me. In Scotland, referees are used to fixing the net themselves (despite the fact that they’re not supposed to!) – perhaps that isn’t how things are done in France.

Yanick and I changed with the two line-judges – Roger Schenk and Olivier Houplain. Yanick spoke to them in detail about the match and what he expected of them. Thereafter we went into the hall and met with the scorer and the players/coaches of both teams. I was warmly welcomed by everyone and there was an obvious respect for both myself and Yanick. I’d been in Beauvais in February and had been treated very well, things were no different on Saturday.

Before I knew it, the match was underway and the first few points reminded me that this was a totally different level from what I’m used to. With the score at 2-3, the Montpellier blocker landed and put his foot just over the centre line but the ball had been hit so steeply that by the time I’d engaged my brain and went to blow my whistle, Yanick had blown for the end of the rally! I gradually got into the rhythm of the match and with the score tied at one set each, we went into the 10 minute break between sets 2 and 3. Beauvais won the next set and I thought they would carry the momentum on to win the match 3-1 but Montpellier displayed stubborn resistance and grabbed the set at the very end with some breathtaking attacks. It was during this set that the players began to question decisions – an overrule made by Yanick, a net touch given by myself, a couple of back court attacks that were given as faults and a few that weren’t. I put it down to both teams desire to win the set, Yanick handled it well and the players and coaches eventually accepted his decisions. Set 5 was just as close as all the others but once again Montpellier just had enough when it mattered. Beauvais had their chance to stay in the game at 13-14 when poor reception from Montpellier gave them a ‘free ball’ but the otherwise reliable outside hitter put his spike way, way out of court and the game was over.

The post match administration was completed with our wonderful scorer who not only completed the scoresheet but also worked the manual/electronic scoreboards, timed the technical time outs and signalled any substitutions! However, the Beauvais coach was unhappy that during the final set I hadn’t understood one of his requests which, in my defence, was made very quickly and very quietly in French. With all the noise in the hall I had to ask him to repeat his request which didn’t go down well at the time and he was still upset about it after the game. I don’t know what he said to Yanick but I was pleased when Yanick intervened and ushered him away from the scorers table.

As we were about to leave the hall, Dragan Milic appeared – Dragan had looked after me and Roberto Locatelli (ITA) when we were in Beauvais in February and he came down courtside to say hello. He was very complimentary about the game and after I’d explained that the Beauvais coach appeared to have an issue with my lack of French, he just smiled and told me not to worry about it.

After grabbing a quick beer in the hall, Yanick and I had dinner with the line-judges in the nearby Buffalo Grill before Yanick drove me back to my hotel where we arrived around 1.30am. It had been a very long day and I was very tired but overall I felt that it had been a wonderful experience and something that I would take a lot from. Yanick informed me that he would write a report for Patrick Rachard and that he felt I’d done well although on one occasion I’d failed to whistle when the ball hit the antenna on my side of the court – I accepted that this was an error on my part.

I had a long lie until 11am on Sunday morning and then I took breakfast in the hotel before checking out at noon. My flight wasn’t until 9pm so I had lots of time to kill – I considered going into Paris for the day but the weather was so bad (and I didn’t have anywhere to leave my luggage) that I decided against it. I went back to terminal 2B on the CDGVAL shuttle, found myself a nice comfy seat and spent the day in the airport drinking coffee, reading newspapers and doing a bit of people watching.

My flight back to Glasgow was delayed by 45 minutes and I was further delayed by the overnight closure of the M8 which meant a detour to get home. I finally made it home at 11.40pm and went straight to bed as I had to be up at 6am on Monday to get to work!

To conclude, if this is the only game I ever referee in Pro-A (Men), it will be one that I’ll always remember. I learned a lot from Yanick, I know the areas in which I have to improve before going to Finland in December where Mr Salonen will run the rule over me as a second referee. Yanick and everyone connected with French Volleyball that I met were fantastic, I really did feel at home there. I can’t wait to go back to Cambrai in a few weeks time!!

Grant MacIntyre