#wearerollerderby

Wow, it’s February already - time flies! I’m glad to say that I’ve been busy.

Scrims

I’ve refereed two scrims already this year - one in Leicester as a Jammer Referee, and one in Sheffield as Front Inside Pack Referee. Both went really well, and came away with new learnings and improved confidence.

I feel I’m getting more proficient at IPR/JR positions, and find myself willing to volunteer for them more often.

My fear of Jammer Reffing is now gone, and I’m confident to keep track of those important hip passes, but more importantly, I believe I have enough knowledge to understand and deal with the common-uncommon star pass situations. The uncommon-uncommon situations will always be tricky, and it’s something to keep working on.

I’m getting a much better understanding of pack definition too. I’m still somewhat slow to call no packs and out of plays, but it’s getting considerably better. Something that will continue to improve in practise and at scrims.

I have a few more scrims lined up in the coming weeks, and I’m keen to continue my pack skills.

British Championships

Yesterday was Game Day 1 for T4WN. I was selected to OPR the first game and ALT the second. This was my first time officiating a Champs game, so I was nervous but excited.

It also means I’ve checked off one of my goals for the year! 

I felt comfortable OPRing, and confident making calls. Feedback from fellow referees and the HR were all positive, with a few tweaks and areas to consider in future. I fell out of position two or three times, but that was due to not anticipating the pack speed suddenly changing. Something to work on in the future.

I also did a rather epic knee slide in to the ‘danger zone’ seating area. My wheel stopped dead under me on the exit of corner two, and I lost directional control. In a split second, I decided the best course of action was to take a knee and fall in a controlled fashion rather than attempt some kind of recovery. I managed to keep eyes on the pack (for the most part) and didn’t injure any of the spectators. I was told later that it looked awesome, so that’s the main thing, right?

ALTing was also a great experience. I have never done this position before, but I found it incredibly interesting and useful. I spotted a few technical penalty types and fed them in to the OPR crew who issued the penalties. I handled four foul-outs and two expulsions, and all the paperwork that goes with them.

I had a fantastic day, and I’m excited for more Champs level refereeing in the future!

Exercise and Fitness

I’ve changed my weightlifting programme from ICF to PHUL. This means I’m basically at the gym four days a week instead of three. On Wednesday, I squeeze in a 5k jog. I’m getting stronger and fitter, but so much further to go!

As the year draws to a close, it's customary to reflect on the efforts and progress of the last twelves months of officiating.

Since starting with roller derby, my aim was to be an official with hopes of becoming a referee. My goal for 2016 was to get the confidence and skills required to achieve this, even if it's just to referee training sessions and drills.

With help and support from my home league, and with an ever-growing network of experienced and new officials to call on for advice and information, I achieved this goal.

My first outing as a referee was on the 16th April 2016 at a scrim hosted by Nottingham's Hellfire Harlots. Their head referee helped guide me and gave me confidence to actually give it a go. I didn't call any penalties that day, but I do remember seeing penalties occur and agree when other referees called them. For me, this was a breakthrough moment.

Over the following months, I clocked up a total of 31 outings as a referee at regulation games. Some closed doors, some open doors, and even two at championship level. This breaks down to 17 OPR positions, eight as IPR, and five as JR.

I also officiated at Nottingham's Louisey Rider Cup (as NSO) and at Wakefield's Harry Potter themed tournament (as SO). I attended two referee boot camps and received guidance from internationally renowned referees such as Righteous Oxide, Igor Maniac, and Rollin Rat.

My league also supported my application for the league head referee (which later developed to head official), and I feel I've done well in this role to foster a learning environment for those interested in officiating. I felt proud representing the league in my officiating, showing impartiality and fairness in all games I officiated in any capacity.

I couldn't have achieved any of my goals without the support from my home league and coaches, and from all of the referees from neighbouring leagues - especially those in Nottingham, Derby and Leicester. I feel I've helped develop a welcoming and supportive environment for all officials at Mansfield Roller Derby, both for home-grown officials and those visiting our league.

Next year will see new challenges, including the new ruleset and supporting documents, and will be a great opportunity to further my abilities and skills.

I have a few goals for 2017: - Lead the training of officials at Mansfield Roller Derby - Head referee an open door home event - Apply to referee British Championships T4W - Apply to referee at least one open door tournament - Apply for referee certification

I'm excited and inspired for 2017. Watch this space!

Yesterday, Mansfield Roller Derby hosted their first ever open door game in Mansfield. Our previous open door events have always been in Nottingham, but we found a venue in our hometown and organised a great double header.

The first game was an Open To All scrim, welcoming all genders to a friendly Game of Thrones themed scrim. The second game was Mansfield Roller Derby vs Sheffield Crucibelles.

As the league's Head Official, it was my responsibility to arrange the officiating crews for both games, supply required equipment, and assist with track set up.

I drafted a full referee crew and delegated HR duties to someone a little more experienced, and shadowed on the day. It was more difficult to get a full NSO crew, but those that did attend were highly skilled and professional. I'm impressed that even with a skeleton crew we still managed to get full paperwork done.

I was FIPR for both games, allowing me to shadow the HR in RIPR position. It was his first time as HR at an open door, but he had experience prior. It was a great learning opportunity for us both, and I feel more confident about taking the HR role next time.

Both games went without major incident, and all officials did a fantastic job. The feedback from the skaters was all positive regarding both the officiating and the event in general, which is always great to hear.

I was lucky to have a great team of officials and finish the year strengthening those connections before the end of the year.

Mansfield Roller Derby did a great job of hosting the event, and everyone put in a lot of time and effort to organise and arrange the day. And, as a huge bonus, they won their game!

A great end to a great year.

On Sunday I went to Northampton with two other officials from Mansfield to referee a triple header tournament in Northampton.

I went with Hawkeye and Bizzle, two experienced and skilled skaters from the travel team who are getting more involved in officiating. Between the three games we were all on a crew with each other for at least one game, which was really nice. I always enjoy officiating with league-mates.

We kitted up and skated around, getting used to the slippery floor. The venue was really nice, and I could tell a lot of effort went in to organising everything. The whole day went without a hitch, which is really impressive considering it was the host league's first three-game event.

The first game I was OPR, with Bizzle as JR. I rather enjoy OPR at the moment, especially in the middle or rear positions. I enjoy watching for blocker-on-blocker and blocker-on-jammer action, and I'm getting much better and knowing where I should be positioned in order to see the most of the pack.

I like being on the outside too, as it's a great position to support the infield. I echoed the hand signals for 'no pack' and 'pack is here' when skaters weren't hearing the calls, and indicated to the jammer referees that their jammer was attempting to call the jam when hidden from the JR behind other skaters.

Another thing I enjoy is ensuring the skaters entering and leaving the penalty box do so correctly, and rejoin the jam legally. I called two 'illegal re-entry' penalties, which is often met by the skater in question dropping their shoulders in disappointment they get to do a lap of the outfield before sitting back down for another thirty seconds.

Watching the track boundary is also something I enjoy, to ensure jammers trying to squeeze past on the outside do so without stepping out of bounds. That happened a few times and I caught a few cuts that the JR perhaps couldn't see from their position.

Being OPR really feels like being part of the team and I like supporting the other referees in their duties. I was also supported too, and had a few penalty calls echoed from the IPRs on skaters who had sped away from my position and didn't hear my call.

After a break and a bit of food, the second game started. I was OPR again, and this time Hawkeye joined me on the outside. The second game was of a faster pace, but once again everything went really smoothly.

I wasn't rostered for the third game, so instead Bizzle and Hawkeye were on the same crew at JR and OPR respectively. I watched a bit of roller derby, and watched the referees.

I had a great time refereeing with Hawkeye and Bizzle, and it's always good to be alongside friends from neighbouring leagues too. I think we all did really well and can take away some feedback to continue improving our referee skills.

I'm looking forward to the next event we can all attend together!