Swimming & Diving FAQs

Find answers to common questions about joining the Eastern Officials Association (EVOA) swimming and diving crew, deck certifications, meet assignments, and how to hire certified officials for scholastic dual meets and club invitationals in Eastern Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina.

You are on your way to joining one of the most rewarding pursuits anywhere. Many of our officials are former athletes who were swimmers and divers when they were younger and want to keep up with the sport. It’s a great way to give back. Officials are a close-knit fraternity of sorts. Being an official allows you to not only work with people who have a common interest, but you will also make some extra money along the way. It’s a great way to stay close to the sport you love and the people who keep it going.

Our association is the go-to organization for officials in multiple sports, and with organizations at multiple levels in Virginia and North Carolina. Our officials work with community leagues, high schools, and colleges in the region.

Who is EOA?

The Eastern Officials Association is a non-profit organization representing professional umpires, referees, and officials for baseball, softball, volleyball, football, swimming and diving. We provide training, monitor the efficiency and professionalism of our officials, and we are organized to provide work for our members. Our Executive Board represents the interests of our members and serves the group regionally.

You can read the EOA Constitution as well as the Policies and Procedures by clicking the links provided.

First and foremost, you can expect to have fun and make great relationships. Secondly, we will do our part to make sure you are properly trained and learn baseball from a perspective you only THOUGHT you knew. Finally, you can expect to be paid well for your efforts. EOA offers officiating opportunities and/or training for every sport we represent virtually year-round. When training, we also provide comprehensive evaluation so that you know where you’re doing well and where you can improve. We work on the finer points, mechanics of officiating, and of course, knowledge of the sport. We want you to be the best official you can be, because we all together represent a fantastic organization.

You’ll also need to be able to communicate using email and the internet. Our assignments are posted online and much of our communication is through email. You’ll have to check for assignments regularly, keep up with evaluations, and communicate often.

To become a certified EOA swim and dive official, fill out our Swimming & Diving Official Registration Form. Once registered, our Swimming & Diving Commissioner will contact you with details on upcoming classroom instruction, rulebook review, and deck-side mentoring sessions.

EOA provides training pathways for all essential aquatic officiating roles, including:

  • Stroke & Turn Judges: Ensure swimmers adhere to stroke mechanics, turn protocols, and wall touches.

  • Starters & Deck Referees: Oversee heat starts, false start calls, deck safety, and overall meet flow.

  • Diving Judges: Evaluate and score dive execution, body position, degree of difficulty, and entry.

EOA assigns officials to aquatic facilities across the greater Hampton Roads area, Eastern Virginia, and Northeastern North Carolina. We regularly cover meets in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Hampton, Newport News, and surrounding counties.

While a background in competitive swimming or diving is helpful, it is not required. EOA welcomes parents, former athletes, and community members. We provide step-by-step deck training and pair new officials with experienced veterans during early assignments to build confidence.

EOA officials officiate VHSL and VISAA (Virginia HS).

Novice officials generally start as Stroke and Turn Officials whose job it is to observe the swimmers in their assigned lanes from the beginning of a race through the completion of the race. Stroke and Turn Officials ensure that the strokes, turns and finishes comply with the rules applicable to each stroke. If strokes, turns or finishes are executed in a manner which is out of compliance with the rules, in the spirit of fairness they document information to disqualify a swimmer from a race.

There are many levels of officiating that require different degrees of involvement and time. Stroke and Turn Officials learn the ropes by attending clinics, using self-study materials, and working on deck under the supervision of an experienced official. Those who are interested move up the ladder to serving as a chief judge, then to refereeing and starting–again, learning through a combination of clinics, self-study materials, and on-the-job training.

Standard deck attire typically consists of a white collared shirt (polo), navy blue or khaki shorts/pants, closed-toe white or athletic shoes, and a whistle. Specific uniform guidelines are provided during pre-season training.

If you’re still reading, you’re obviously intrigued with the opportunity to become an umpire with the Eastern Officials Association. You can dive right in and enjoy it. Just like when you learned the sport you love, you didn’t know it all and couldn’t do it all on the first day. We’ll take your understanding of the sport and teach you the rest. Get started by filling out the registration form. You can get to that by clicking on the link below. From there, you’ll be contacted by our training director and you will receive an email with a link to arbitersports.com. This will officially get you into our system and all ow you to receive more information about our organization. Members of the Development Committee will be your primary point of contact to start. If you have any other questions, you can email us directly.

To secure certified deck officials, referees, or starters for your high school dual meet, club invitational, or championship event, submit a request on our Booking Officials page or contact Swimming & Diving Commissioner Leigh Henniker directly.

Our officiating roster maintains active certifications across NFHS (VHSL), USA Swimming, AAU, and NCAA rulesets for both swimming and diving disciplines.

Have a question not covered here? Get in touch with our aquatics department leadership directly:

  • Swimming & Diving Commissioner: Leigh Henniker

  • Contact: Email Leigh