Well, I had my first practice session as a skating official.  For the first scrimmage I shadowed an experienced Jam ref, annoying the living shit out of the guy with questions, pointing out calls he missed, and generally being a pest. (I kid, I kid, he was happy to teach.)  It was a bit confusing, as I had forgotten a few of the fundamental rules, and of course the officiating guide can only cover so much material. (and let's be real, I can't remember all that shit yet!)

Shocker #1: It's harder than it seems to avoid the 6 other officials in the middle of the track.
Thankfully we didn't slam into each other.

 For the second of the scrimmages I shadowed the head ref and did the same thing. I had less questions about pack reffing, and caught a few missed calls.

Shocker #2: I've known it for a while, but before I ever stood in the middle of a track I wondered how it was they needed so many refs, and how the hell they missed so much. It's easy to miss a ton of calls, the view from the inside sucks, and you really have to judge so many things, distances, center of body mass, timing for contact, amount of impact, zones of impact... It can make your head spin.  I think this explains it well:
Roller Derby - The Smartest Referees in the Whole World

Not to mention that having a hell of a case of bronchitis, or something like that, today it feels like I contracted some form of plague.

On the last scrimmage I really really wanted to pack ref. (I secretly want to be an outside pack ref. yes, I know this qualifies me as a masochistic fool, and everyone tells me not to do it.)   Instead I was assigned to follow the jam ref again. When I got there he pushed me out of my comfort zone and told me I should jam ref and that he would back me up.

Nerves aside, I realized I had to get out of my comfort zone and give myself permission to make some epic mistakes, miss 1,000 calls, and piss some skaters off.

and I did all of those things beautifully. By the end of the scrimmage I knew I had driven them all absolutely insane, The coach wanted to kick me in the balls, and the captain was probably too busy checking out my butt to care.  I did know that all of my penalty calls throughout all 3 scrimmages were 100% spot on, so I guess my failures (learning experiences) elsewhere were forgivable.


Other random shit: We had a visiting skater from New Zealand and she did her kiwi sisters proud. (We are in Washington state.) A skater cracked some ribs, (get better L!) EDIT: and I just found out another skater broke or fractured her ankle that night too. (take care of yourself P!)  this season we have had some brutal practices, resulting in a few knee and ankle injuries, 2 broken ankles, and a busted tibia IIRC.


 Derby really isn't a sport for the timid, you don't get that many broken bones in the NFL preseason.




P.S. This is about right:

Fuck Yeah, Roller derby Zebra (meme tumblr)