In the fall of 1984, when high school training and local officiating associations were virtually non-existent, a group of collegiate volleyball officials in West Michigan set out to change the game. At that time, officiating experience came almost exclusively from the intense training in the collegiate arena, and being on the court without structured preparation was challenging. Recognizing the need for better training and development, officials Patty Treman, Betty Near, Jeanne Skinner (retired), and the late Dave Mersman, Bill Garrett, and Pat (Folkertsma) Garrett co-founded the West Michigan Volleyball Officials Association (WMVOA). Girls’ volleyball was a winter sport then, and on a crisp fall evening, the group met to establish the organization. They decided to make a lasting impact by creating an all-volunteer training tournament to both develop officials and raise scholarship funds for graduating seniors. The first tournament took place at East Kentwood High School in the winter of 1985, and since then, WMVOA has awarded over $140,000 in scholarships. In 2025, the Board of Directors voted to retire the long-running tournament.