As a young child, Max Nuon immigrated from Cambodia to the current volleyball hotbed of Madison Wisconsin. It wasn’t until High School during P.E. class that Max was introduced to the sport of volleyball. Following graduation in 1987 he joined the U.S. Marine Corps and served until 1995, which included the Gulf War. In 1988 while stationed in Southern California, Max was fully introduced to beach volleyball when he saw legendary players Tim Hovland and Mike Dodd play Randy Stoklos and Sinjin Smith on their base, Camp Pendleton, and he instantly fell in love with the sport.

During his time in the Marines, playing volleyball had become a main hobby for Max. Following his service, he continued to play volleyball every day after work and during any free time that he had. In 1997 a fellow co-worker jokingly suggested that Max should start getting paid for something that he was spending all of his time outside of work doing. Max took him up on the challenge and began officiating.

First, Max officiated middle school matches and then moved quickly to the high school ranks. The college level came in 2004 and club volleyball followed in 2005. Today Max officiates four to five days a week and is a certified National Level Official.

“As a National Level Official, I have the opportunity to officiate all over the country with National Qualifiers, Boys’ Bid Tournaments with AAU and JVA run events, from Milwaukee to Southern California and everywhere in between,” said Max. “I enjoy JVA run events because they are more fun and less stressful. Players and staffs are friendly and I enjoy the atmosphere and entertainment.”

Max (second from the left) with fellow Officials

Max truly enjoys his career in officiating and finds it fascinating, a life learning experience that provides the opportunity for one to travel, make new friends and see new places every week. You can have a 9-5 job and still travel for weekend tournaments anywhere in the USA.  He looks forward to the post match discussions with fellow Officials, sharing their stories from the day.

“We have lots of interesting Officials from all over the country. I have more friends now that I call ‘brother’,” shares Max.

JVA values the service Officials provide to junior volleyball. We encourage those who are passionate about the game and want to find a career in junior volleyball to consider becoming a Certified Official. Contact JVA Head Official Joseph O’Neal today.

Learn about JVA’s Officials Reward Program.