All photos in this post come from the ace Paul Jones Photography Cardiff. Used with permission. Go check out his work from the most recent world cups, Welsh derby and more! People of roller derby – we need officials. It’s a fact – if you want to play the game, you need a crew of […]
Read More On recruiting roller derby officialsBLUE 736, DESTRUCTION. There was a no pack and you are the skater deemed solely or most responsible for its illegal destruction. Oops. Time to leave the track, sit a penalty and reassess. Not all “no pack” situations result in a penalty, of course – there are ways “no pack” can arise legally or with […]
Read More Rules with Skew (5) – seven ways you might get a penalty for destroying the packSpeaking to a lot of rookie officials last year, along with newer skaters at training sessions and scrims, something that came up a lot is wanting to feel more confident at pack awareness (skaters) and pack definition (officials). Matters of the pack can feel difficult and require a lot of derby “bandwidth” – a concept […]
Read More Shape of the pack (part one)Misunderstanding: It’s okay to contact an opponent in the buttocks or the back of the leg. Demystified: Depending on which part of the buttocks you hit, you could find yourself with a back block penalty The back of your buttocks are a legal blocking zone, but an illegal target zone. This means you can hit […]
Read More Rules with Skew (1) – the “back” is bigger than you thinkOfficials generally want to keep the game moving. It’s just one of those things on our priority list, along with making sure gameplay is safe and fair. Official reviews, on the other hand, have the potential to stop the game in its tracks. Our goal as officials is to conduct the review fairly in the […]
Read More Top tips for effective communication in an official reviewGotten bitten by the refereeing bug? Have you read the intro, plus parts one, two, and three? Put them into action? Looking out onto the open track and wondering where to take it from here? Here are some suggested next steps. Remember that any individual league may have certain policies re: safety/level of skating skill […]
Read More New Year’s Ref-olution – next steps (4)The first two blogs in this mini-series for those new to being a skating official concerned things you should invest in, and learning activities you can do to make a strong start away from the track. Now is the time to start observing and training that referee brain whilst at practice. Before you try any […]
Read More New Year’s Ref-olution – exercising your referee brain (3)The amount to learn as a new roller derby skating official can be overwhelming. This is particularly the case if you haven’t played extensively or don’t have experience in various non-skating roles. Even if you have, there is still a LOT to learn, and not all of it is necessary to do at practice, on […]
Read More New Year’s Ref-olution – where do I start, exactly? (2)Learning some basic refereeing skills is something I can get behind for anyone involved in roller derby, even if it’s just temporarily due to injury, some extra skate time before advancing to scrimmaging, improving your understanding as a coach, something to do on a casual basis alongside skating, or if you really do want to […]
Read More New Year’s Ref-olution – the essential referee starter kit (1)So last year I relocated. New part of the UK, new people, new challenges. I was also privileged enough to help at one bootcamp/clinic for referees, co-run another, and run a third by myself. Much as I’d hope they learned something from me, I learned a LOT from them. Over the year I met the […]
Read More New Year’s Ref-olution – a four part series
