So, my goals. I have remembered my goals, but life has somewhat gotten in the way of progress on said goals. Two cold/flu-like illnesses, a secondary bacterial chest infection, and I still have a teeny tiny residual bit of a cough that first started around 10th January. Oh, and an old knee twinge needing some TLC, and some bizarre thing going on with my left foot that a bit of rest and avoiding jammer reffing appears to have helped immensely.
Unavoidable training swaps, travel constraints and dental work that meant I’ve managed relatively few training sessions at my home leagues. And badminton/volleyball having the hall both before and after us means my sneaky end-of-training-track-time has all but vanished. There is support and provision from both my lovely home leagues though - they’ve grabbed every little bit of time they can squeeze in for us around team training, for which I am grateful.
The horror of the winter period appears to be all over, however, so for the new quarter I am hopefully starting refreshed and ready to go.
I still managed:
to bring the WFTDA evals total up to 23, with hopefully a couple more incoming. I really do just need to find time and confidence to do the skate skills test, and then I can actually submit, like so many of the euro refs appear to be doing.
to do 5 blog posts, so I’m on track for goal 4!
to maintain my weight pretty much where it was, which is better than putting stuff back on
to get coaching tips from the boyfriend on my stride and put these into practice, and actually *feel* more confident
to book on to a pre-minimum skills bootcamp to get a proper coached refresher in the basics, and actually get put through my paces, with feedback
to referee 14 full-length games (inc. 4 as HR), and 3 games’ worth of mini-games at a scratch tournament. And 90% of those were things I thought I would enjoy, even if a couple didn’t quite work out that way.
to do bits of stretching and mobility work - anything that didn’t require my lungs to be going at full capacity
to go and guest-train and guest-coach referees at Roller Derby Leicester on a few occasions, as well as Wiltshire Roller Derby last week.
The goals, for a reminder, are:
1) Hit that pace for the ‘10 fast laps’ you want to hit. You know what it is. And you’re going to get there with regular practice and putting in more time off skates. It’s essentially getting one second faster per lap from where you are now.
2) Hit that weight goal you want to hit. You know what it is, and you know it’s not about being ‘slim’, but being that size you know is your functional ‘happy size’, and losing the extra that’s symptomatic of the less-than-palatable bits of 2014/15. You’ve already lost nearly half of what you wanted to shift. This is do-able.
3) Only referee things for the sake of them being something you think you’ll enjoy, whatever that reason may be. This is your hobby. Money and time are finite. Happiness is important. Come out at the end of the year saying that you’ve adhered to this at least 90% of the time.
4) Don’t let the blog die. Put at least 20 more rules posts up this year.
5) Have the courage to at least submit for certification. Just to see what happens.
As a referee of many years and an NSO of many more prior to that–I’d like to say a profound and heartfelt thing to my fellows in pink, blue, and miscellaneous (depending on game and crew):
THANK YOU.
I don’t think as many people believe the NSOs do as much as the referees because they’re not out front-and-center, and I’d like to dispel that rumor. Yes, they’re doing a focused job that isn’t as flashy as what we do in stripes but my GOD yes. Good NSOs are worth their weight in platinum-pressed rare earth metals because we couldn’t do it without you. The leagues that are hoping for their sanctioned games couldn’t do it without you. The referees? Well, without you, what we do doesn’t matter–because your jobs are what make everything actually official. So. Just. Yes.
All of this.
Every NSO who takes the time to learn their craft, and supports the referees in what they’re doing, while the referees do everything they can to make the NSOs’ jobs as hassle-free as possible.
Refs for NSOs, NSOs for refs, and all for derby. <3
“If not timing a penalty for any reason (Skater is not sitting, Skater entered the Penalty Box from the wrong direction, etc.), the Penalty Box Official must communicate this to the Skater.”
Generally heard around my region: “Black 123, your timing has stopped.”
Though it would be really funny to be silent in cases like that. “WHAT IS GOING ON WHY AREN’T I RELEASED YET”
Or, if we use the official verbal cues:
VERBAL CUE: “TIMING STOPPED FOR TEAM COLOR, SKATER NUMBER” Description: The Penalty Box Officials will instruct a Skater that they have stopped their penalty time by stating “Timing Stopped” followed by the Skater’s team color and then charter number.
Misunderstanding: At the end of the jam, the jam ends on the final whistle the official/s blow - at the end of the three sets of four.
Truth: The jam ends on the fourth whistle blown.
***
Click for the index of all posts, and an important disclaimer.
Almost every referee has seen a jammer signal four points at the end of a jam, looking hopefully at the official who is holding up fewer fingers. They may have passed four opposition blockers by the time all the whistles had finished but had only passed a single one by the time the fourth, jam-ending, whistle sounded out.
I’ve also officiated far too many games where nearly all skaters only cease actively blocking when every single whistle has been blown, sometimes with painful consequences.
When does the jam end?
A jam ends on the fourth whistle of the first set of four whistles usually blown by either a jammer referee (if a lead jammer calls the jam) or the jam timer (if the jam runs to a full two minutes). In some cases (8.2.6), another official may blow those first four whistles - for example if the jam is called in response to an injury.
Up until this fourth whistle sounds, jammers can carry on scoring, all skaters can carry on engaging other skaters and the derby continues. After that fourth whistle has sounded (after which there will be a small gap before the next set of four) skaters should cease playing derby, and think about returning safely to their benches, or setting up for the next jam.
What does that mean?
Jammers can carry on scoring up until that fourth whistle (7.2.3) and blockers can carry on defending their points. A jammer can tap their hips in order to call off the jam, while continuing to pass through the pack...and score points after they’ve started tapping. The flipside is you can get cutting the track penalties up until that fourth whistle. I’ve done a blog on this before, which also covers the exception of skating out of bounds just before the end of a jam.
Penalty time continues to be served until that fourth whistle, and then stops being counted until the next jam starts.
Most importantly, you can’t legally block opposition skaters after that fourth whistle. The jam has finished. and we don’t expect to see any more play until the next jam starts.
Yes, referees are blowing eight more whistles, and they are in themselves apparently meaningless, but they work as an extra alert to skaters, officials and audience alike that the jam has indeed ended.
What are the consequences for blocking after the whistle?
Most of the time when skaters initiate blocks after the whistle, there is no impact that warrants a penalty. We see a lot of minor jostling for position, or jammers so focused on pushing into a wall that they carry on pushing for another couple of seconds.
Referees are looking for a block initiated after the fourth whistle that sends an opposition skater down or ‘severely off balance, forwards or sideways’. There’s some element of interpretation required here, but you’ll usually know it when you see it - was the skater propelled in a dramatic fashion? Did they have to work hard to recover after the hit? Notice that the opponent going out of bounds is not enough, in this case - the idea of relative position is null and void after the jam has ended.
Referee training notes:
- If you’ve started blowing the jam ending whistles and swiftly realise that the jam shouldn’t be called yet (e.g. the jammer had just cut the track prior to calling the jam and that’s just being called by another referee, the jammer isn’t lead, or the jammer only tapped their hips once) you should commit and finish them, plus the echoes. Even if you know you’re wrong mid-set, you should commit. Get them done, apologise for your error if needs be, penalise the jammer if they weren’t lead and they ‘called’ it, and carry on with the game.
- Keep a steady, consistent rhythm when calling the jam. Make sure the four whistles are distinct, even and are blown consistently in rhythm, with a clear gap between each set. Try to blow your sets of four whistles using the same pace as the other officials who may call the jam during the game. It’s very easy to blow whistles more quickly if things are hectic at the time the jam is called off. Keep calm, and keep consistent. Get your pack referees to feed back to you. The pace I choose is 1-2-3-4-rest-rest-1-2-3-4-rest-rest...
- Tempted to join in and echo those sets of four? Only join in at the start of each set, only join in if you know which set everybody’s on, and keep the rhythm established by the jammer referee or jam timer. Sometimes you won’t join in at all, and that’s okay. This avoids whistles being muddy and confused, or getting a solo ref chiming in with an awkward fourth set of four whistles on the end.
- Are you calling off the jam? Tap your hips. Are you an IPR or OPR echoing those whistles? Tap your hips. Jammer referee who hasn’t called off the jam? Leave those hips well alone. This makes it visible who called the jam, and can assist the scorekeepers in correctly recording call-offs.
- In between jams (i.e. after that fourth whistle and before the first whistle of the next jam) any penalties should be called *without* a preceding long whistle. This will apply to those misconduct penalties for blocks after the jam-ending whistle. Referees should avoid blowing their whistles for penalties in between jams.
- As an ‘after the jam contact’ misconduct penalty is given *after* the end of the jam, a skater being given this penalty does NOT turn them into a ‘not on the track (NOTT)’ point for that final scoring pass of the jam. The jammer ceases scoring points on the fourth whistle, so the skater committing this penalty is not eligible to be scored upon.
There will be more blogs soon, I promise.
I have some nice new stuff drafted, and lots of inspiration from the (relatively busy, if somewhat hindered by a chest infection) year so far.
For now? Off to coach some local emerging ref talent. :)
Misunderstanding: As long as I’ve lined up ‘between the lines’, I can’t get a false start. Why have I got a false start when we’re all up near the pivot line?
Truth: Most of the time, true, especially with ‘jammer line’ starts. With blockers starting near the pivot line, it gets more complicated, especially with a true ‘pivot line start’
***
Click for the index of all posts, and an important disclaimer.
When I started refereeing roller derby in 2013, you rarely saw anything happen at the pivot line. I’ve more recently seen a lesser spotted rule confuse teams again and again, especially now it’s more common that teams choose to start there. I’ve even seen teams fall foul of it multiple times in one game and trainee referees not exposed to the idea before it applies on game day.
I’ve blogged about types of false starts and yielding after a false start to avoid a penalty before, so if you’re after some more info, go check those out. The WFTDA rules on the subject are also here. Otherwise, read on to find out the basics of the pivot line false start.
The pivot only gets their superpowers when they touch the pivot line
If, at the jam start whistle a pivot is:
touching the pivot line (but not touching 'ahead’ of it)
upright
in bounds
...then any space in front of their hips becomes a danger zone to every other blocker on track...except the opposition pivot.
Crucially, and what catches out many a skater - that includes their team mates!
Photo by Daz Wilson. From this position it’s difficult to judge, but the green pivot looks to be attempting to touch the pivot line in anticipation of the jam start whistle.
When a pivot does this, I’m going to (very unofficially!) call them the superpowered pivot. In fact, BOTH pivots can simultaneously be superpowered pivots - it means all other blockers have to be aware of both of their hips.
If, at the jam start whistle, any other non-pivot blockers’ hips are in front of a superpowered pivot’s hips, they get a false start warning. And that means they must do the thing required of any other false starting skater!
If the pivot false starts by touching ahead of the pivot line, or is only touching behind the line, or happens to lose their balance and be classed as down as the jam start whistle goes, they lose their false-start drawing superpowers.
So how do we referee this?
Depending on the preferences of the HR, the FIPR or RIPR will watch the pivot line closely, then position themselves parallel with the superpowered pivot’s hips, to work out who truly is behind and “safe” from a false start. It’s important to judge if the pivot is false starting themselves, perhaps by accidentally putting a toestop on the line, and a wheel beyond it.
An OPR should also start level with the pivot line and help as well, particularly if multiple blockers false start - it can be tough to see skater numbers from this position, so try and memorise these prior to the start of the jam. There are a maximum of six skaters who can do so in a single jam, assuming the pivot has unprepared teammates! (The most I’ve ever called in a single jam is 4.)
I opt to call each false start warning separately and clearly, then penalise skaters who do not complete the yielding requirements.
Key things to remember
if anyone gets a false start, they all have the same yielding requirements to avoid a penalty
the crucial moment is what is happening when the jam start whistle blows, the positioning of skaters prior to this point with respect to false starts is irrelevant
a pivot can draw false starts on their own blocker teammates
a pivot cannot false start the other pivot using their hips
a pivot touching partly ahead of the line (rather than on it) cannot draw false starts, and will instead false start themselves
a non-pivot blocker touching the pivot line at jam start will false start by doing so
we look at hips vs. hips to judge who is ahead of who, and the contact with the line to determine if the pivot has their “superpower”
Misunderstanding: Only blockers can get multiplayer block penalties. Jammers cannot.
Truth: Blockers are indeed far more likely to get multiplayer block penalties, but any skater illegally grasping/linking/forming an impenetrable wall with a teammate that impedes an opponent and meets the criteria for a multiplayer block penalty...will get a multiplayer block penalty.
***
Click for the index of all posts, and an important disclaimer.
Just a quick one today, to ease me back into this blogging lark. Multiplayer block penalties deserve a whole post (or posts!) of their own, so I’m not going to talk about the penalty in depth, but instead focus on a couple of examples of how jammers can commit this penalty.
Jammers can block...
If the jammer is playing defensively, for whatever reason, they are certainly just as liable to get a multiplayer block penalty as a blocker. A jammer could be playing in the exact same way you’d expect a blocker to do so, particularly when it comes to engaging the opposing jammer (perhaps in a bid to draw a cut, or eventually ‘soul crush’ the jammer) or supporting their team’s wall until the other jammer is held, and therefore they will have the same possibilities of committing multiplayer block penalty as one of their teammates. Easy.
The assist that didn’t work out all that well...
This is probably where I see the majority of jammers incurring multiplayer block penalties. If a jammer is attempting to take an assist/whip off a teammate or use a teammate to stay in bounds, this will usually involve a grasp on some part of said teammate or said teammate’s clothing (I’ve seen some stunning shirt-whips, lately!). Grasping and grabbing and taking a whip/assist is, on its own, totally legal*.
However, if the path ahead of the jammer is no longer clear, they may end up holding this grasp for a little longer than planned. Take, for example, a jammer grabbing their the left hand side of their teammate’s shirt. The plan is to sneak up along the inside line while said teammate defends their path. Something then happens to mean that the jammer continues to grasp their teammate, but cannot improve their position - another blocker in the way, for example, or insufficient space to sneak up that inside line.
Then, imagine an opposition skater skates directly into said grasp, attempting to either block the jammer off track, separate the two or ‘draw’ a penalty. If the grasp is maintained while the blocker is impeded from passing between both skaters - there’s a penalty!
The jammer, so focused on the assist and its potential success, does not detect the blocker attempting to derail it, and so, being the one doing the grabbing, is sent to the box for a multiplayer block.
Training notes for referees
Spend a drill or two (without letting the skaters know beforehand - they may automatically put their arms away!) observing what jammers are doing, legally and illegally, with their forearms and hands. Are they grabbing their teammates? Are they placing hands on their teammates? Are they placing their hands on opposition blockers? Do they ever grab onto or push off opposition blockers to attempt a block on another opposition blocker? Do they ever take an ‘assist’ off an opposition blocker? Illegal ‘stuff’ with forearms is not just limited to straightforward blocks, swimming, or pushing with the forearms not pulled into the chest.
*Assists can lead to penalties in other ways, and are not called all that often - why not get prepared to know what justifies a call? When might an assist be illegal? What impact is required to make it a penalty? Who gets the penalty? How might this actually happen in gameplay? Chat with your crewmates, and/or observe skaters with the rules to hand. To get you started, try consulting the direction of gameplay, out of bounds engagement and out of play penalties, and refer to the official verbal cues.
UK bods and bods from further afield! Come to Birmingham, UK where my affiliated league, Central City Rollergirls are hosting a WFTDA clinic in July. Awesomesauce.
I’m looking forward to seeing lots of your faces. :)
Misunderstanding: It’s okay to swear at my teammates. It’s only swearing at refs that’s the problem.
Truth: There are penalties for using obscene, profane or abusive language/gestures to all manner of participants in roller derby, not just the officials. Use of such language or gestures to individuals including (but not limited to) event staff, opponents and teammates may be called as a misconduct penalty.
***
Click for the index of all posts, and an important disclaimer.
It’s pretty well known that obscene, abusive or profane language or gestures directed at a referee will get an insubordination penalty. It’s a little less well-known (possibly because it happens less often!) that doing the same to an NSO will have the same consequences. And even less so that behaving similarly to announcers or other event production staff has penalty-based consequences if observed.
The use of such language/gestures towards opponents is something skaters are pretty well aware of, too. However, even swearing at your teammates could be grounds for a penalty. It’s one of very few things illegal actions in roller derby that can be done to a teammate (rather than an opponent) and warrant time in the box.
As ever, an official would need to hear/see it to make the call and this penalty is partially subject to the referee’s own perception of what is or isn’t abusive, obscene or profane.
What do the rules say about production staff?
“5.16.10 - The use of obscene, profane, or abusive language or gestures directed at a mascot, announcer, audience member, or other event production individuals. If no one can be singled out as the offending party but it is clearly coming from a Skater, this penalty will be issued to the corresponding Captain.” (link)
Let’s start with all those other marvellous folk who help a roller derby game to be even more fantastic. There’s not a high threshold for misconduct here - it’s the same as for officials (except there the call is insubordination). So any abuse to the announcers, the awesome person repairing the track...you get the idea. It has to be directed though, so a simple four-letter-word of frustration muttered by a skater to themselves simply within earshot of one of these people won’t usually warrant a penalty, telling someone to “hurry the f*** up”, or flipping the bird to an announcer commenting on the penalty that sent that skater to the box is likely to be an instant misconduct.
It’s also worth noting a team may receive a penalty where an official can’t pinpoint the source of the swears, and the captain finds themselves allocated a penalty, and serving the time.
What do the rules say about players and team support staff?
“5.16.11 - The excessive use of obscene, profane, or abusive language or gestures directed at an opponent, teammate, manager, coach, or other team support staff. If no one can be singled out as the offending party but it is clearly coming from a Skater, or if a team as a whole is being offensive (though no individual Skater’s offensive speech is considered “excessive”), this penalty will be assessed to the corresponding Captain.” (link)
So, different group of people, similar criteria as before, but with an extra caveat - the use must be ‘excessive’ to even warrant a penalty. The skater who gets through the pack, transitions, and makes an obscene gesture towards the pack may find themselves with a penalty, but only if the officials deem it excessive.
So what is ‘excessive’?
Different referees will have a different perception of what is excessive, and the topic comes up frequently in referee conversation. Sometimes it’s down to a personal view, influenced by the local culture (what might be acceptable somewhere is not somewhere else) or the environment in which the game is played - is it audible to the audience when a game has been sold as ‘family friendly’? Referees also take things into context - the manner in which the gesture was made or words were said towards a teammate may illustrate something said in jest or meant with zero malice. There’s an element of judgement required, and to make any sweeping generalisations here would be unwise.
Referee metrics *will* differ, because of the different cultures and contexts in which we play roller derby.
What about expulsions, then?
Take the above two penalties, and add in the word ‘repeated’ to each - this would warrant expulsion. Directed rants punctuated with obscenities would fall under this remit. See 5.16.21 and 5.16.22.
Referee training notes
- If you’re unsure whether it should be a penalty, or whether you clearly heard/saw what was said/gestured, don’t penalise, but relay information to your head referee. They may decide to issue the penalty, or instead warn the teams regarding further infractions. Sometimes a friendly reminder can be effective in calming things down.
- Have a conversation in training, or on a discussion forum with your crewmates regarding examples of what they deem to warrant a penalty and/or expulsion for both event production officials and teams and their support crews. Do you all agree? Where are the grey areas?
