A total of twenty five local participants are taking part in this course under the supervision of FIVB Instructor Avelino Azevedo, from Portugal and NMIVA president, Laurie Peterka was present at the opening ceremony.

As NMI's national federation, these kind of courses are a strong component of NMIVA’s strategy to educate up and coming referees and to keep them abreast of any changes to the rules and regulations in the sport. The referee course is designed to educate and train new referees at the national level, while providing national federations with a structure so that they may continue to develop their national referees, which is a key point to the NMIVA, as mentioned by NMIVA's President.

There are 17 men and eight women taking part in this FIVB VCP Course coming from all parts of the host islands, with one female participant coming out from the island of Guam. The participants are expecting to benefit greatly from both the theoretical and practical components of the course, which is taking place at the Marianas High School, at the capital Saipan, until Saturday, where a Volleyball All Festival tournament at a second facility will give to the candidates the opportunity to referee the matches.