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Derby Training with Mass the Ref, Port Ludlow, WA (2025)

06/23/2023

WFTDA derby is back! (And so am I)

With apologies to Jerry Garcia - what a long strange trip it’s been. The pandemic is receding into memory for most people, but for those of you who lost someone during the past three years my condolences and thoughts are with you.

Life has changed for many of us in ways we never imagined and we’re learning to cope with a new reality. The derby we know and love is slowly starting to recover around the U.S. and across the globe, but in many ways the new derby landscape looks very different than it did pre-pandemic. The new reality incorporates daily COVID testing and masking at tournaments, close contact tracking, and a noticeably diminished skating, officiating, and volunteer populations. Whereas before the major problem in staffing bouts was the number of competing events on a single night, we now face the problem of not being able to find enough officials to staff a single weekend bout. Tournaments struggle to find enough officials to adequately work the weekend without back-to-back (to-back!) shifts. A large percentage of a generation of officiating and skating talent has been lost to attrition and retirement. Online discussions display a sometimes alarming lack of institutional knowledge when it comes to Rules and their application, and without mentors many officials are developing their own interpretations of how to officiate derby which sometimes differ greatly from standard practices.

Those dire warnings aside, all is not lost. There’s a group of newer officials (some of whom are only now starting to learn about WFTDA derby and some of whom began their journey shortly before the pandemic) who are eager to learn and officiate ALL THE DERBY. Tournaments are coming back in strength, partly due to the WFTDA “Back on Track” program and partly to the reintroduction of rankings and the new rankings algorithms. Wannabe derby skaters are joining fresh meat programs in huge numbers, and the desire for derby officiating education seems to be stronger than ever.

In the past short while I’ve been lucky enough to be able to teach officiating clinics to leagues in Pennsylvania, UAE, and most recently this past weekend in Phoenix, Arizona for Arizona Roller Derby. Some participants were local to the area, representing AZRD, HARD, and CGRD. Others made their way to the clinic from EPRD in El Paso, Texas and SRRD in Reno, Nevada. The fact that these officials and skaters were willing to travel those distances to spend two days learning about derby officiating speaks volumes about the growing need for officiating training. My thanks to all the clinic participants and to all of the folks who traveled so far to listen to me ramble.

I was hosted in Phoenix by McWinkel and Goldy Knocks, the AZRD HR and Executive Director respectively, and I’m indebted to them for their kindness and graciousness. They’re in the end stages of preparing for the 2023 Cactus Cup, one of the big tournaments this year, but they took time to be hosts, plan the clinic, and arrange a double header for AZRD, HARD, STEM, and the clinic participants on Saturday night! It’s AZRD’s 20th season (!) this year and they’re pulling out all the stops to make this tournament one to remember. From what I’ve learned about the organizers I don’t think that’ll be a problem. Thanks to both McWinkel and Goldy Knocks and to AZRD for putting on a great event this weekend and for letting me be a part of it. I know Cactus Cup is going to be great!

RollerCon is also happening this year, albeit a bit later than usual and at a different host venue. The event looks to be almost as big as it was pre-pandemic so that bodes well for future years. If you’ve never been I highly recommend it. Spending a few days immersed in all things derby is truly miraculous. You can officiate alongside the best officials in the world, for the best skaters in the world, and not feel any pressure. You can officiate on- and off-skates, play derby, learn banked track and other rulesets, attend workshops and seminars, be surrounded by others just as fanatical as you are, and have a blast doing it all day long for three days. (And then if you want you can party all night every night). It’s all about learning and fun and connecting with the global derby community and it’s mind blowing. Warning: shameless self plug ahead. I’m teaching a seminar at RC this year - Zen and the Art of Officiating, a topic near and dear to my heart, so if you’re going to be at RC please consider stopping by!

In the online officiating community Skewblog is back (hi Skew!), and Roller Derby Rules and Clarifications on Facebook is seeing multiple questions posted every day. The WFTDA forums have been redesigned and the number of “all things WFTDA” posts there is growing by leaps and bounds. The community is waking up and it’s hungry for information.

So derby is back, and even if it’s not growing as quickly as it as before 2020 I’m confident that it’s going to be what it was in time.

For what it’s worth, I’m back too. 🙂 I’m still officiating, I’m still learning, I’m still teaching, and I’m still loving this sport. I’m going to resurrect this page and see if there’s anyone out there still listening. I have a feeling there’s a new audience of officials who might be interested in reading my occasional musings about derby. 🙂

If what I’ve seen recently in my interactions with skaters and officials is any indication of the future WFTDA derby is going to flourish. I’m looking forward to being a part of that future and I hope to see all of you there.

Thanks for reading and I’ll write more soon.

ALL THE DERBY!!!

————————————-
If you have derby topics you’d like me to address please let me know. I’m always open to writing about interesting subjects that further WFTDA derby whether they’re related to officiating, inclusivity, diversity, derby culture, recruiting, retention, or anything else derby related. I am absolutely not an expert on any of these topics but I do enjoy discussing all things derby. 🙂

Arizona Roller Derby High Altitude Roller Derby Casa Grande Roller Derby El Paso Roller Derby Sierra Regional Roller Derby WFTDA

06/06/2019

Let’s talk about solutions

It’s obvious from my recent post about my scrimmage experience with a local league that the topic has hit a nerve for a lot of people. It’s a contentious topic, and people come down on both sides of the fence about it. Everyone has their own worldview and their own interpretation of how events unfold, and what may seem inappropriate to some is simply how interactions happen to others.

The issue I see is that there seems to be (from my perspective) a problem with bullying (for lack of a better word) of officials in derby. The track is an emotional place, derby is a highly emotional sport and sometimes tempers run high.

When I started officiating in 2010 I swore back at a Skater who swore at me when I assessed a penalty against them during a bout. (this was before the current profanity rules were in place). It was a tense bout and I simply didn’t know any better. That doesn’t excuse it. The Skater shouldn’t have sworn at me, and I shouldn’t have sworn at them. That was a result of elevated emotions, but that’s not the type of action I’m talking about. I’m talking about pervasive, ongoing abuse of derby participants, and since I’m an official I’m focusing primarily on officials being verbally (and in hopefully rare cases physically) abused by Skaters, coaches, and fans. I in no way mean to belittle abuse of Skaters or anyone else because I know that happens too. This is just the arena I'm focused on at the moment.

A 2017 paper ("Why Referees Stay in the Game", Global Sports Business Journal 2017, Volume 5, Issue 3) on officiating retention and attrition in amateur high school sports stated that:

“the most compelling deterrents to officiating are the escalating verbal
abuse from parents and coaches and the possibility of being assaulted
by an angry fan or player.”

How do we change this?

Just so it's clear, I love the sport of roller derby (I’ve been officiating it for nine seasons now so I must love it) and as a cis white male (I understand I'm speaking from a place of privilege) I believe it’s a much needed non-male sport. I’m not going down the rabbit hole of WFTDA vs. MRDA, and this is not intended to be a slam against MRDA at all – it’s just that my primary officiating in derby is WFTDA. I’m grateful every day that the participants in this sport allow me to have a place in it. But that love for the sport doesn’t mean I’m going to let myself be abused because “it’s just how it is”. I’ve been lucky in that I haven’t had to deal with too many inappropriate behaviors in derby. Sure, I’ve been insulted, I’ve been loudly body shamed, I’ve had Skaters follow me out to the parking lot after games to "talk" about their expulsion, and I’ve had fans chanting death threats at the referees (that last one was a doozy - 300 fans chanting "KILL THE REFS! F**K THE REFS!" in unison), but compared to what other officials go through it’s been relatively light. I should clarify here - almost ALL of my derby interactions have been positive, and I have the highest respect for all of the incredible athletes and coaches who participate in the sport. You're all amazing, and I couldn't do what you do.

I worked a recent tournament where in one game a coach came out after every Jam to aggressively complain about things officials were missing, or to berate them for overcalling. Every single Jam. I know this coach’s behavior patterns and this is how they advocate for their team. It’s their style of coaching, and while I wouldn’t use it myself I’ve seen it prove effective for them in the past. In this particular situation the coach managed to get under the skin of one of the skating officials to the point where the official simply stopped responding to their questions and would skate away when the coach moved towards them. I’m a believer in open communication between coaches, skaters and officials – I tell people at my pregame meeting that anyone can ask a quick question of any official (between Jams please, and recognize that the individual may have other tasks and can’t answer immediately), but in this case I finally had to ask the coach to direct their questions to me alone. They were affecting the ability of the officials to manage the game. It wasn’t at the level where I would penalize for game impact, but it did have an effect.

I was asked after that game if I would consider the coach's behavior abusive. And my answer was I honestly couldn’t say. To someone not used to it I could see the case that it’s abusive. To someone used to that coaching style or to high energy aggressive games with assertive coaches I could see the case that it’s *not* abusive.

However, I've also seen:

- officials crying after games because of the things that have been said to them during the game
- officials who simply quit *during* a game because they can't take the abuse they're receiving (ever had a Jam Referee simply say "I'm done" and skate off the track mid-Jam?)
- officials who go out to the parking lot after a tournament to find their tires slashed or their car keyed
- outright public accusations of bias against officials when a team is losing (I've had this leveled at me)
- Much worse that I won't go into here

So how do we combat this? Can we even combat it? Do we need to combat it? As derby officials we pride ourselves on professionalism, on impartiality, and on knowing the rules and how to apply them correctly in an ever-expanding variety of situations. Is it a matter of educating derby participants as to what constitutes appropriate behavior on and off the track? Or punitive action as a deterrent to future acts? Or is there something deeper, more pervasive, something in the DNA of many leagues that tolerate or sometimes even condone such behavior?

I throw the floor open to you. I’m not going to ask if you’ve seen or experienced abusive behavior in derby, because I think most of us have. The more important question is how was it handled? Conversation? Better communication? Leaving the league? Refusing to officiate for them any more? Arbitration? Ignoring it because “it’s part of derby”?

I’m interested in potential solutions, because I think derby is suffering as a whole because of officiating attrition and I’d like to see that change. I know there are many causes for this attrition (burnout being a big one) but bullying is part of it.

Can we do anything about it?

06/05/2019

Good morning everyone! I've finally got my computer back online so I can catch up after moving back across the Pacific. And I have thoughts. Bear with me please...

How to Lose Your Officials Through Bullying

It's been a while since I posted. I'm back in the Seattle area now and the move from Japan took all my time and energy. Now that it's over it's good to be back, with a caveat or two. This is where I started my derby journey nine years ago, so I've come full circle. In the past three years I've been lucky enough to officiate derby in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, England, and the U.S., and I can honestly say in those three years I've never had to deal with abusive skaters. I had my share of them prior to that, but I hoped that era was coming to an end in derby given my recent experiences. And then I got back to the U.S. Pacific Northwest...

I had been back four days and was attending my first scrimmage for a small local league outside Seattle. There were four skating officials and a single NSO, so not unlike other places I've officiated in the past few years. The Head Referee for the scrimmage admitted to me that he hadn't officiated in two years, which should have been a red flag, but I let it go. After all it's a friendly scrimmage between two small leagues, right?

The coach of one of the leagues was talking to his skaters, on skates with no safety gear. Another bad sign. He agreed when asked to take off the skates and coach on foot.

Scrimmage got underway and I was asked to be Jammer Referee. OK, no problem. One IPR, two JR, and one OPR. The other JR was a skater for the visiting league and was coaching the skaters, albeit briefly, between jams. Another not so good sign.

All of these I let go. My first night back and I didn't want to raise any issues.

Then came the penalty. The Black Jammer lost their helmet cover through natural gameplay and was hit off the track to the outside. As they recycled an opposing White Blocker saw the Black helmet cover lying on the track and raced over to it, standing straddling it between their skates. OK, that's still legal.

However, the next thing the White Blocker did was to drop into derby stance and move their skates laterally together, pinching the helmet cover between them so it couldn't be retrieved. Now we're at a Misconduct. I assessed and issued the penalty. I have to admit I was surprised when the skater's response was to scream "IT IS NOT!!!" at me, then leave the track.

The Jam ended shortly after that and I turned to go back to my starting position, only to find the skater standing in my path. As soon as I was facing them they started to shout in my face "THAT WAS LEGAL PLAY! I *GUARANTEE* YOU IT WAS LEGAL PLAY!". I answered in a conversational tone "I guarantee you it was a Misconduct". They escalated, shouting louder and responding with "THAT WAS LEGAL PLAY! I'VE SEEN IT DONE IN D1!". I stated again "that was a misconduct" and skated away. I'm not interested in arguing with angry skaters. I'm always happy to discuss the reasons I made a penalty call with skaters when asked, and I'm also willing to admit when I've made a mistake in officiating (that's how we improve, right? We learn from our mistakes...). That being said, I will NOT engage in an argument with a skater who is shouting at me. That's not why I'm involved in derby and it's not something I'm prepared to take.

The next thing I see is that the skater's coach has called an Official Review. The Head Referee indicated he wanted to listen on his own, so I moved with the other officials to the far side of the track. I look over and see the coach is holding up his phone with the Rules displayed on it, and the Head Referee is scrolling the page with his finger. At that point I skated over and indicated to the HR (remember, he hadn't officiated at ALL in two years) that it's an unwritten rule that coaches don't bring external reference materials into official reviews. No phones, no Rule or Casebooks, no video recordings... nothing. They bring their knowledge of the Rules, the game, and strategies. Then I skated back to wait for the Head Referee to join us.

It turned out the coach was demanding that the Head Referee show him where under "Misconduct" in the Rules it stated that a skater couldn't stand over the helmet cover. And the Head Referee had been scrolling trying to find it. The conclusion was that the Blocker penalty had been warranted and the scrimmage continued.

As I geared down afterwards I reflected on what had occurred. Could I have not issued the penalty? Sure. Was it warranted under the circumstances? I believe so. Could I have left the Head Referee to read the Rulebook when the coach held it up? Absolutely. Did I have any interest in officiating for a league that believed it was okay to let skaters scream into officials' faces when they disagreed with a call? Nope. None whatsoever.

By the way, I also considered going and talking to the coach and skater to discuss the penalty and the aftermath, but I decided it simply wasn't something I was interested in. If that was how they treated officials I had no interest in associating with them.

So that league has lost an official who would otherwise have been happy to officiate for them because of their actions. I will not work any of their scrimmage or bouts going forward. I've thought a lot about that decision in the last week or so, because I used to be one of their league officials years ago - they were my home league for two seasons. I decided that I speak from a place of privilege, because I have the luxury of being at a place in officiating where I don't have to scramble to find bouts, and I don't need to build up the numbers in my Game History. I was discussing the incident with a good friend at Boardwalk Empire in California between bouts and they reminded me that while I am privileged to be able to make that decision I've also worked extremely hard the past nine seasons to get to that place. I've officiated over 520 games, I've attended thousands of hours of scrimmages, practices, and clinics, I’ve taught dozens of clinics myself, Boardwalk Empire was my 55th WFTDA tournament... the list goes on. So yes, I'm privileged, but I also worked my tail off to get to that place.

All too often we officials are abused by skaters, coaches, and fans. We suffer verbal and in some cases physical abuse. I've known officials whose tires were flattened, their cars keyed, and drinks thrown on them. I worked one game many years where we decided to declare the game over with 13 minutes left in the second period because we had genuine concerns for our safety from the fans (that's a story for another day). And yet we take this abuse. I think there are a few reasons for this. First and foremost, it's because we love officiating this game. Secondly, and almost as importantly, it's out of fear of not getting staffed on future games. And thirdly it's because we're told we need to be thick skinned, that the role of the official is to take abuse from the players, coaches, and fans, and that we "should expect to be treated like this" because we sometimes make unpopular calls.

Well, I'm here to tell you it's not true. There is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON officials should take abuse from derby participants, and those leagues that tolerate (and in a few sad cases condone) abusing officials don't deserve officials. If you're in an abusive situation in your derby officiating I urge you to find someone to talk with about it. Talk to the league president, or the senior official in the area if appropriate. Talk to other officials if they're around. Spread the word about your experiences so that other officials have an idea of what might happen if they work for that league. Mail me if you want - I'm always willing to try and help find solutions. But no matter what you do please try to remember this is NOT normal behavior, and it shouldn't be tolerated. If you can't change the culture, vote with your skates or your clipboard and don't officiate for those people any more. Derby is hemorrhaging officials at an alarming rate, in large part because of a culture of bullying that's tolerated all too often.

Let's work to change it.

EDIT: I've had a few PM's since posting this from well-intentioned people who believe I must be traumatized from previous derby bullying, or that I was afraid to issue an insub to the yelling skater. Nothing could be further from the truth. I didn't issue an insub because it would have aggravated the situation and that wouldn't have helped anyone. I've been officiating for nine seasons and aggressive skaters or coaches don't bother me. And I couldn't still be officiating the sport if someone yelling about a call I made bothered me. :)

03/31/2019

Warning: feels ahead.

It’s 5am and I’m lying awake in a motel room in Tucson, Arizona. I’m on Tokyo time so the jet lag is waking me up pretty early.

I’m here for the Dust Devil 2019 tournament. I’ve worked it a few times before and I always enjoy coming here for it. I always come away with great stories and a renewed dedication to this sport we all participate in, no matter how we do it.

This morning at 9am I will officiate my 500th game as a roller derby referee, and I’ve been lying here awake thinking about it and what keeps me involved in the sport when so many people I know have left.

It’s so many things.

The skaters who are eager to become better players and want to understand the rules more. Or are simply trying to understand why you got that back block call in the last jam. Or are just excited at the entire derby world. And all of the skaters who are kind enough to allow me, a cis white male, to have a role in YOUR sport. Thank you being the awesome people you are, and for letting me be a part of this incredible sport.

The officials who email to ask me questions, or comment on my posts, adding your voices and experiences to the gestalt. Those I’ve worked with 50 times and those I’ve never met. Thank you for loving the game the way you do and for wanting to make it the best it can be.

The fans who scream at games for their favorite players and teams. Yes, even the fans who scream when they don’t like an official’s call. We had one yesterday who kept yelling “THAT’S NOT A MULTIPLAYER MASS! HOW IS THAT A MULTIPLAYER?” every time I skated by (we actually think he might have been seriously hoping I would answer to help educate him, he yelled It so often). Thank you for reminding me that part of why we do what we do is so that you can enjoy the game in the way that you do.

The coaches who know the game and the coaches who don’t. I know you have your team’s best interests at heart even if an occasional few of you you sometimes don’t display that at game time. Most coaches are kind, caring, dedicated people and I’m lucky to be able to see that when I’m officiating for you. Thank you for caring enough to want to help the skaters with your knowledge and experience.

The partners who put up with their significant other’s derby obsession. The term “derby widow” exists for a reason. I’m lucky enough to have a spouse who’s as obsessed with derby as I am, and is damn good at it too, as a skater, a captain, a coach, and a derby analyst. I couldn’t have gotten here without you. I love you and thank you.

It’s all of the places I have been I have been lucky enough to see in the last nine seasons. From all the small towns in America, Canada and Mexico to the mega cities of Japan, from the sky-scraping towers of Hong Kong and Shanghai to the magical country of New Zealand and the vast expanse that is Australia, from the huge anonymous sports complexes in England to the tiniest roller rink in the Pacific Northwest in the USA and the outdoor concrete pads in Northern California.

All the hundreds of venues and thousands of hours of scrimmage, rules study, discussion, practice, practice, and more practice. I love this game and over the years that love has only grown.

And most importantly, it’s you. My derby family. My friends. Those who make me pause and think and those of you who make me laugh. Those who have given me reasons to reconsider my opinions, and those of you who have called me out when I have made mistakes. Those who have mentored me and those I have been fortunate enough to mentor. I could off the top of my head name dozens of derby people who have changed me for the better by simply being present in my life. It doesn’t matter whether it’s an aside at the track when a certain edge case happens, a late night discussion while listening to kookaburras in the trees outside before an early tournament start the next day, drinking bad gas station coffee while watching the sun come up while driving to yet another away game, having an unexpected spray of beer hit the back of my head, neck and shirt as a good referee friend accidentally sneezes into their beer at the pre-tournament dinner, or just that unexpected happy hug when I arrive in a venue and I’m looking for the officials’ room. THAT’s what makes me stay in derby and makes me look forward to it every day. It’s all of you. Those people I have grown to know and love, my community, those of you who share my passion for this amazing sport. Those of you who I am proud to call my clan. Thank you for your dedication, your love, your passion and obsession, and for calling me one of your own. Thank you for being my family.

My 500th game is in 3.5 hours. And I can’t wait to see all of you there.

02/28/2019

At Narita Airport with my flight to Hong Kong departing in 90 minutes. My first clinic of 2019. Can’t wait!

02/28/2019

Handling tournament rejection

It's that time of year again. Tournament acceptance and rejection. It's not always pretty and it doesn't always make us happy. So how can we deal with it? Read on...

If you applied for a tournament and got accepted, congratulations! That's awesome. Go officiate and have a blast! But if you applied for a tournament and got rejected? That hurts. Chances are the rejection letter wasn't especially helpful in explaining WHY you were rejected. Something about "Everyone who was offered a position has accepted. Thanks for applying. Please try again next year". Meaningless, right?

Well, maybe not. Try not to get too upset, because I can guarantee it's happened to ALL of us, more than once. I'm going to use the most cliched phrase I can think of here, because it's completely valid.

It's not about you.

Your rejection in all likelihood wasn't because of you personally. I've THO'd enough tournaments (and have enough friends who THO) to know that the selection process is difficult and stuffed full of variables, and that it's VERY rarely about a particular person. In fact, in more than 45 tournaments in the last nine years I only know of two situations where an official was rejected from a tournament because of something personal to do with that official. Most often it's just a matter of numbers. Maybe you don't have enough experience as a Jam Referee and what the THR needed to finish their final crew was a strong JR. Maybe the THO doesn't know you and unfortunately your references didn't get back to them in time. Maybe your Game History didn't have enough recent games with teams at the level required for the tournament, or maybe it had too many recent games at that level! Maybe it’s a learn-a-ment and your Game History showed that you were overexperienced for the level of play, that others would be better suited because they could learn more than you would, making it a more opportune tournament for them.

So, you've been rejected from a tournament. Now what? Well, you have a number of options. You can be stubborn and dig your heels in and apply every year. I had one tournament I applied for five years in a row, and I was rejected every single year. I had officiated (once) with the THR very early in my officiating history and didn't acquit myself well. In fact they asked me to not come back to their scrimmage again. I was brand new and I made some terrible mistakes.

I waited two years and then started applying for the tournament they were THR for. And got denied. Five years running. So I stopped applying. Finally I was accepted for a DIFFERENT tournament they were co-THR for and had the opportunity to talk with them. When I said I felt I must have really screwed up badly for them to be so adamantly opposed to my participation in their tournament they paused, then replied "not at all. You just weren't able to listen, which meant it would have been a waste of time giving you a slot". And you know what? They were absolutely right! At the point in my officating when they saw me I was incapable of listening and wouldn't have been useful to their tournament. That changed over the years but they hadn't seen me evolve so the rejection was repeated.

So, you can be stubborn, dig your heels in and keep applying. What else? Well you can give up on that tournament and move on, looking for others to apply to. I think this is a common response among officlals: "well, if THEY don't want me I'll go to another tournament where they DO want me!" But guess what? There's no guarantee you'll get into that next tournament either. Competition is fierce and if your skills aren't what the tournament requires you can get shut out pretty quickly.

So what to do? Well, there's a third option, and it's one I've used to my benefit in the past. When I get tournament rejection letters (and I do) I write a private reply to the THO. It goes something like this:

"Dear THO. Thank you for your email regarding . I understand there are many variables associated with staffing for a tournament, and I thank you for taking the time to consider me. Given that I wasn't accepted this year, do you have any suggestions on what I can do to improve my officiating and better my chances for next year?

Thank you, and have a great and successful tournament!

-Mass"

And you know what? I have received a response every single time I've sent one of those emails. That's how I know it's not about you. Because with the one exception (my story above) it's never been about ME. Be honest and sincere and use this as an opportunity to better yourself as a official, rather than berating yourself (or the THO) because of it.

If you send that email and get a response, don't blow it off. Be grateful that a busy THO (I guarantee you THO's are busy) took the time to give you suggestions to become a better official. Take those notes and work on them. Ask other officlals you know and trust to evaluate you on those improvements over time and see how you're progressing. Then apply again the following year to that same tournament. You just might be surprised at the result.

I hope to see you on the track soon.

Derby Training with Mass the Ref

06/23/2023

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