List of Inductees 2019
Don
Pfeifer
Referee
Don began his refereeing career in 1968 with his appointment as a Local Official. Following that, Don’s advancement as a referee was rapid, as he gained his Provincial designation in 1969 followed by his Regional appointment in 1970 and his National designation in 1972. He became an International Candidate in 1975 and received his International Certification in 1977 after participating in the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games. Don continued as Saskatchewan’s only International Referee for 31 years.
Don Pfeifer has been involved with the Saskatchewan Volleyball Association for the past 50 years and today still continues as an active official, mentor and clinician.
Highlights of Don`s career include serving as a Member of the NORCECA Special Referee Committee from 1988-1992, a Member of a three-man Special Referee Committee for the FISU championships in Zagreb, Yugoslavia in 1989, a Member and Vice-Chair Special Referee Committee for the FISU games in Sheffield England in 1991 working with the FIVB Chairman and responsible for giving clinics, assignments, sitting on the jury and over-seeing all competitions.
On the home front, Don served as the Saskatchewan ROC (Regional Officials Chairman) from 1971-1984 before being selected as the Volleyball Canada National Officials Executive Vice-Chair 1979 -1984 and the National Officials Chairman from 1985-1990.
Don also held a number of positions including: Chair and Member of the International Promotions and Assignments Committee; Chair and Member of the National Promotions Committee; Chief Clinician for the Volleyball Canada Officials Committee; Editor-in-Chief for the Volleyball Canada Rulebook; Member of Volleyball Canada Management Committee for Quadrennial Planning; and Management Committee Member and Vice-Chair of the NORCECA Referee Commission.
Don led and mentored many referees at the national level, but never forgot his rural roots. He is a true “grassroots” developer. He spends many hours ensuring his local referee base was being nurtured. When he was the NOC, ROC’s who were new to their position were met with regular, encouraging phone calls so he could give them direction and a clear understanding of their role.
During his time as Vice-Chair of the NOC, Don introduced a number of initiatives including implementing new procedures to edit and publish the rulebook in a more acceptable and timely fashion; building more positive relationships with the Volleyball Canada Board of Directors and Executive; improving written and verbal communication among Level 3-5 officials within Canada; standardizing criteria for promotion of Level 2-4 officials across Canada; working to improve relationships between Volleyball Canada referees and volleyball coaches, players and other volleyball personnel; improving the approach and procedures for evaluating and selecting National and International referee candidates as well as serving as a liaison between Western and Eastern Level 4 and 5 referees. Don was also successful in lobbying for our Canadian International referees to be assigned high profile matches including medal match assignments at major international games and competitions.
In addition to attaining his accreditation as an International Referee, Don sites his highlights as having had the opportunity to officiate and run clinics in 9 different provinces and at least 15 Universities and colleges throughout Canada as well as being honoured with Lifetime Memberships – by both the SVA Officials Association and Volleyball Canada Officials and having the opportunity to serve as the National Officials Chair for Volleyball Canada for some 10 years.
We are honoured today to induct Don Pfeifer as a Referee in the Volleyball Canada Hall of Fame; he is most certainly deserving of this recognition for his 50 years of continuous involvement
