Skew's zebra blog

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:

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.

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

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.

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.