Case Study
How Romanian Volleyball Federation modernized 17 years of referee management
Replacing a failing legacy system with a modern, mobile-friendly platform that manages 200 referees and 3,200+ matches per season
Industry
Sports Federation
Location
Romania
Size
200+ referees, 500+ teams
1 Week
Full Adoption
All 200 referees enrolled themselves after launch.
17 Years
Legacy System Replaced
Nearly two decades of referee management modernized.
200+
Active Referees
Coordinated across nationwide volleyball competitions.
3,200+
Matches Per Season
Managed with centralized scheduling.
The Challenge
For 17 years, the Romanian Volleyball Federation relied on an aging system that was slowly becoming unreliable. Emails frequently failed to arrive, so administrators fell back on manual phone calls to confirm assignments. Critical data such as payment status and referee scores lived in separate spreadsheets, creating a fragmented workflow that was difficult to maintain and prone to errors. The system was built with outdated technologies and lacked mobile support, making it difficult for referees to access schedules on the go. Security practices had fallen behind, and technical debt had reached the point where even routine maintenance was hard. With 200 referees and thousands of matches per season to coordinate, the federation needed a modern solution that could scale reliably.
Key Pain Points:
Email notifications from the old system frequently failed to deliver
Manual spreadsheets for tracking payments and referee scores
Constant phone calls required to verify availability and confirm assignments
Outdated technology with no mobile support and security vulnerabilities
Fragmented data across multiple systems made coordination difficult
The Solution
Development of OneReferee began in September 2024 in close collaboration with members of the Central Refereeing Committee so the system would match daily operational needs. The technical architecture prioritizes reliability and security: the frontend is deployed on Cloudflare with DDoS protection, while the backend runs on a VPS behind NGINX with fail2ban, rate limiting, and containerization. The database is not directly exposed to the internet and has automated backups. The system was officially presented at the Referee Summit in Ploiești in September 2025. Within one week, all 200 referees enrolled themselves, showing both ease of use and readiness to move away from the old platform. After launch, development continued with feedback from referees and committee members to add features based on real-world usage.
Implementation Timeline: ~2 weeks from initial rollout to full deployment, with all 200 referees enrolled within 1 week of the September 2025 summit
Draft system for match planning
Plan and review assignments before publishing, with an extra publication step that lets administrators verify delegations before they go public.
Self-service unavailability management
Referees can mark unavailable periods through a calendar interface, eliminating phone calls and giving schedulers real-time visibility.
Team kit management
Track team kit colors and match details such as TV coverage and challenge system availability.
Mobile-friendly interface
A fully responsive interface that works on phones and tablets so referees can check schedules and update availability from anywhere.
The Results
The transition to OneReferee removed the operational friction that had plagued referee management. Email delivery became reliable, referees could manage availability without phone calls, and critical information moved into one centralized system. At the September 2025 Referee Summit, the main concerns were typical migration worries about historical data and change resistance after 17 years on the old platform. The self-enrollment of all 200 referees within one week showed that the practical benefits were immediately clear. Most importantly, the cost remained comparable to the old system while delivering significantly better reliability, stronger security practices, and an easier path for ongoing product improvements.
Key Outcomes:
All 200 referees enrolled within one week of launch
Email delivery failures from the old system were eliminated
Payment tracking and referee scores were centralized
Administrative phone calls were reduced through self-service availability
Cost stayed comparable while infrastructure and security improved
Before OneReferee
Email notifications frequently failed, requiring manual follow-ups
Payment status and referee scores lived in separate spreadsheets
No practical mobile access for referees checking schedules
Availability had to be confirmed person by person
Security practices were outdated and technical debt kept growing
After OneReferee
Reliable email delivery with modern infrastructure
All data centralized in one role-based system
Mobile-friendly access from any device
Self-service availability tracking replaces phone tag
Modern security with DDoS protection, rate limiting, and safer architecture
"OneReferee is easy to use, intuitive, and ensures a complete and fair image of the assignment table for all competitions."
Alin Mateizer
International Referee, Romanian Volleyball Federation
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