RICHER Marie-Claude – CAN (PVPA)

Marie-Claude attended an international referee clinic in May 2012 in Toronto, Canada, having been invited by a former WPV Canadian referee. Having seen her referee, he thought she had potential as a paravolley referee and would work well in that environment. She accepted the challenge.

She credits Pierre Farmer, former WPV International Referee and Referee Observer, with having the greatest influence on her development. She says he provided good advice on how to referee sitting volleyball compared with ‘regular’ volleyball, though there were very few competitions in Canada.

Marie-Claude Richer was involved in the following events as an International Referee:

2013 – Edmond/USA – PVPA Zonal Championships – October 9th to 13th
2014 – Elblag/Poland – World Championships – June 15th to 21st
2015 – Toronto/Canada – Parapan American Games – August 8th to 14th
2016 – Anji/China – WPV Intercontinental – March 17th to 23rd
2016 – Rio/Brazil – Paralympic Games – September 7th to 18th
2017 – Montreal/Canada – PVPA Zonal Championships – October 25th to 29th
2018 – Venlo-Eindhoven-The Hague/Netherlands – Mens World Championships – July 15th to 22nd
2019 – Lima/Peru – Parapan American Games – August 23rd to 28th
2021 – Tokyo/Japan – Paralympic Games – August 27th to September 5th

In his statement of support of the nomination, Joe Campbell, President of ParaVolley PanAmerica wrote:

I have known Marie Claude since 2012 when she attended her WPV International referee course in Canada. During her tenure she has had an outstanding impact in refereeing as noted in her assignments in working 2 Paralympic Games and World Championships, and 3 PVPA Zonal Championships. Marie Claude is truly a team player and works extremely well with her co-officials.  She is an advocate of Sitting Volleyball as she helps promote the sport in her nation by officiating and administrating competitions.

Marie Claude is currently the chair of the ParaVolley Referee Development Sub-committee on the Volleyball Canada National Referee Committee. Her duties include:

Assessing the needs for ParaVolley referees inside Canada
Establishing a pathway for volleyball officials to obtain a ParaVolley referee certification at the regional, national, and international levels.
Developing a ParaVolley referee educational program (ex. Webinars, workshops, and clinics).

Her future projects include working with other PVPA nations by sharing her efforts in the development of ParaVolley referees.