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Roberto Rigante – Volleyball England Referee of the Year 2023!

At the 2023 Cup Finals Roberto Rigante was awarded the Volleyball England Referee of the Year award. Roberto is a great friend to Riga and has refereed countless games for us as well as supporting the Club throughout. That’s why we nominated him for this well deserved award.

Congratulations Roberto! Read the full nomination below for all the reasons that Roberto is great 🙂

Coventry & Warwick Riga VC nominate Roberto Rigante as Referee of the Year.  His contribution and dedication to volleyball and the development of refereeing in the country over the last year is second to none.  What’s more he’s also the future of refereeing.  We think he deserves to be rewarded – here’s why!

Give us a….

O – Oh so much more – His commitment doesn’t stop there!  Roberto has done many events in Kettering such as the U16 last 8 in 2022, while in 2023 he has attended U18 Last 8s and the U15 Last 8s in Feb this year.  He’s a great example of an official keen to support Volleyball England’s major events strategy and was part of the volunteer team at the Cup finals in 2022 and has been invited to the 2023 ones as well this April.

E – Expertise – This year Roberto was upgraded from Grade 3N to Grade 2 demonstrating his continuous improvement of his refereeing skills and abilities.  His commitment above demonstrates how he’s continuously developed his own skills, knowledge and experience.  But what’s more he supports and motivates others less experienced to keep refereeing and to develop their skills.  We’ve witnessed that first hand – where he has less experienced referees doing a fixture with him we always see him at the end providing feedback, tips and advice (on the best ways to practice, to improve their skills and to be observed to get upgraded).  Roberto does this in a very positive and encouraging way.  His style and approach is such that it would encourage anyone to want to be involved more in refereeing.  It’s really clear to us Roberto loves coaching and mentoring young referees and has a lot to offer there going forward too. 

T – The future – As a young developing referee Roberto is part of the future for our sport and he has great ambitions!  Whilst Roberto doesn’t meet the eligibility criteria to become an international referee, he is really keen to be more widely involved with refereeing and with international events – fully supporting Volleyball England’s major events strategy.  Roberto describes his three main ambitions as:

1. Participating in an international competition ie. NEVZA – get him on your list 🙂

2. Identifying opportunities to develop beach volleyball further particularly at the legacy B2022 facilities – Roberto is moving (back) to the Midlands so keen to support Volleyball England in its beach volleyball ambitions in the area

3. Having an active role within Volleyball England’s infrastructure to identify referees ambitions and to help them in achieving it (ensuring referees remain motivated and engaged through their pathway journey).  He’s already shared ideas in this space with Gillian

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