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!!!
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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
