Applications and you!

Tournament season is going! Hooray!

Here's a couple of things I've noticed that seem worth flagging:

Do not answer 'no' or N/A when asked for references

If you say 'no I can't provide references', you're basically saying that there is NO ONE you've worked with who is willing to back you as an official. NO ONE IS GOING TO STAFF YOU. There are many many people you can ask for references (and make you sure ask them, it's polite): your league HR/HNSO, local officials you work with (even at scrims), people like that. But, for the love of zeebs, put someone down!

Provide a CV

Yes I know, filling it in sucks or whatever. But fill it in! Otherwise tourament heads can't get an idea of the kind of stuff you do.

Please provide something!

I love giving opportunities to newer officials! But help me to help you!

The young person's guide to being an alt ref

I may be an okish ref, but I'm a PRO alt ref.

Now, I know. Some people think being alt is a slap in the face. "I was *only* selected as alt". But to hell with that - there is a SKILL to being an alt. And it's not just about sitting on your arse.

Your main job is dealing with the official review paperwork. Never seen it before? You can find it in the WFTDA Statsbook.

I'm not going to tell you how to fill out every field (I mean, 'Team' should be self explanatory, right?), but here are some of my hard won TOP TIPS:

Before the game starts, fill in your name in the 'Tracked By' section, and the date. Trust me - you're going to want to have this done up front, cause otherwise you will forget. The teams should be pre-filled by the HNSO, but if not make sure you note their colour too - sometimes it's hard to remember which team is which!

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU FILL IN THE PAPERWORK IN PENCIL. Means you can quickly sketch the notes and correct mistakes.

For the Length of review -- you can only fill this in once the review has ended.  And I guarantee that when you look up to see how long the review has been, it'll be showing the lineup time instead.  If you have a fitbit, or other watch/smart watch that has a timer on it, note the time already elapsed (the scoreboard peeps will always be faster than you) and start your timer. That way you will have the exact time with no panic because the scoreboard people are super slick. You don't need to do this for ORs used as team timeouts - they last 1 minute!

Try to be clear and concise. Basically you want something like:"Green would like cut issued to black 17 (jammer). Cut green blocker 71." Short and to the point (like me!).

TALK TO THE PENALTY BOX PEOPLE. You're hanging out with them any way, and I guarantee they're interested in what is happening. It's *totally fine* to tell the PBM/PBTs what a review was called for and what the outcome was. Make sure you don't obviously do something like say a skater in the box is being ejected...before they've been told. And be mindful of how you word things (be professional!). But there's no harm in letting the PBM/PBTs know that the black team wanted a cut called on the green jammer, but no refs saw a cut so they didn't have the review upheld.

If you're called up, be very honest about your limitations. Chances are (particularly at a tournament) you're stepping into a well gelled crew. Don't be a hero. If you're not the greatest front OPR, your other OPRs need to know. It's best that you slip in as seamlessly as possible. It's not about you - it's about what's best for the crew.

 Finally, be polite, be professional, and act as part of the crew. You're not just an alt. You're *the* alt!

I've probably missed stuff but these are the key things for me!

Things Head Refs Hate #1

This will end up being a series, cause I hate a lot of things (and only some of them are related to derby).

I really really really hate it when there's an official review, and the bench coach lays out their complaint and when we discuss it, we realise that:

1 - The bench coach is right and we fucked up.
2 - None of us was in the right position to call it/see it.
3 - We have to turn down the official review.

I don't mind if a bench coach has their official review upheld. I LOVE IT. We made a mistake or we missed something, but it got FIXED. Official reviews help keep us honest, and they make sure that things are kept fair. It emphasises that we're working with the teams to facilitate a game of derby, not that they're trying to 'catch us out' and we get huffy when they're right (I know some people think like this. Honestly, if you're huffy that someone corrects something that has impact on the game, you're not cut out to be an official.)

But when we are 99% sure that we've fucked up and WE CAN'T FIX IT, I hate it. Because we can't fix it. We can't sort out something unfair that's happened. That bugs me.

Our priorities as officials should always be:

Safety > Fairness > Game flow

Safety trumps all other things.
Fairness is so important for the skaters to trust us.
Keeping the game flowing makes for a real/straightforward game.

So to my fellow refs - if non-combative bench coaches asking a question/having an OR makes you huffy/upset/whatever, then you really need to have a sit down think about why and try to see it as an opportunity to improve.

To bench coaches/captains - If you're right, we genuinely want to uphold your official review. I promise you, that nothing makes me happier than upholding an OR - it means we've fixed a fuck up. (I'm also happy to turn down an OR if we know that we have all the information and all is still good).

But those ones where we think you're right, but can't uphold it - those are the ones that bug us.

Sometimes junior skaters are taller than me.

Last Saturday, I had the experience of reffing a juniors exhibition game. Half hour, single period game.

I've certainly never had a captains' meeting open with one of the captains announcing "I'm really scared". But I've never had a captain come up to my elbow either.

What can you do in that situation? As refs we're often called on to be the 'adult' in the room - defining who's been 'bad', setting limits, being asked to decide things that really have nothing to do with us. I've said before that sometimes teams seem to think we're their mums. But when you are the adult, it's time to step up.

I emphasised that our first job is safety and the safety of our participants is number one. It's true and it's something that people forget. Fairness is obviously a huge part of our job, but safety is really the most important thing. And I truly believe that. I could look that kid in the eye and say "My number one job is safety. I am here to make sure that you and your team mates and the other team are safe. Nothing is more important to me, okay?". I think he believed me. I meant it.

The rest of the captains' meeting was pretty standard stuff - clarifications, rules, all that jazz. But I tried, more than I have ever tried, to emphasise safety and fun. I think I'm growing soft in my old age - I didn't even try and put the fear of god (that'd be me) in them. And the kids seemed to appreciate it, and seemed excited for their game.

It seemed like it might all be ok and everyone could have fun.

Then a kid threw up in the penalty box.