A volleyball match typically has 4-6 officials and the sport is played completely above ground. Should we add a 3rd official sitting on a lifeguard stand above the pool communicating with the other two officials via headset?
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i have been harping on this for years [see New Rules for 2025 - #20 by GoBears]
water polo has one of the worst ref to player ratios of all sports [1 ref / 7 players]
- football = 1 ref / 3.1 players
- ice hockey = 1 ref / 3 players
- volleyball = 1 ref / 3 players
- basketball = 1 ref / 3.3 players
- soccer = 1 ref / 7.3 players [offsides help to limit the field of play]
its hard to think logistically how a 3rd ref would interact with the other two and the role/responsibility they have.
that said, given all of the new rules changes and tournaments played with experimental rules, their should be some goal to better this ref to player ratio
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Perfect world, yes every time. But it is an already very expensive sport and we are already short of quality referees so I don’t see it happening. Maybe at the pro and olympics level and maybe college, they could figure it out, but I don’t see it happening in high school or club levels in the US.
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We can’t even get goal judges for games let alone a 3rd ref
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Don’t forget professional wrestling manages with one ref 
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I’ve thought about this quite a bit. Cost is an issue. There are a few ways to do it. Here are two, one is impractical for all locations and the other works pretty well, IMHO.
#1. Four refs. One slightly elevated behind each goal. The other two watch the attacking zone perimeter from opposite sides. This can work with just three refs with only one perimeter ref. The goal refs can watch the stragglers on counter attack. This isn’t feasible as access behind the goal isn’t guaranteed.
#2. Three refs. Let’s call them 1, 2, and 3 in order of ability. 1 is on one side and 2 and 3 on the other. 3 is always directly opposite 1 but not primarily responsible for 2M. So when 1 is at 2M, they make the call while 3 is across at 2M making near side perimeter calls. 3 is on the perimeter making the rest of the usual perimeter calls. When they go to the other end. 2 is at 2M and 1 & 3 are on the perimeter. The extra eyes aren’t in the high leverage areas but are watching elsewhere and learning the whole time
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THis second option would be awesome, but there is a shortage of referees as it is for club sports. In the pros and Olympics type of competitions, it would be great, but anything below that, the cost and referee availability is not going to allow for this. Even high school soccer games, they sometime have to implement the 'two referee system" instead of one reff and two sideline assistants, because they are spread too thin, and they need the reffs for other games somewhere else, and there are 22 players on the pitch, but they manage it with just two reffs.
Somebody mentioned that hockey has 4 officials on the ice. Yes you see that in the NHL, because they have the money and lots of reffs wanting to do that type of work, but in most lower levels it’s 2 or 3 officials out there max.
So, officially speaking, there should be 5 refs at a game.
1 official on each side of the pool. A back up at the desk. 2 goal line officials.
Ugh think of all the extra whistles.
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