Skating Officials, Non-Skating Officials, SOs, NSOs, Zebras, Refs, Volunteers
Whatever name you give them, Officials are the team that makes roller derby possible!
This is my collection of resources to make learning to officiate roller derby more accessible.
photo by Lydia Brewer
How to find this page quickly: http://tinyurl.com/RollerDerbyBasics OR https://sites.google.com/view/roller-derby-basics
Roller Derby Officiating Basics Slide Show - I created This slide show for my roller derby officiating clinics. It is still under construction, but there is a lot of great information and links. Please feel free to browse and use the information.
Roller Derby Basics Flier - This is a very basic introduction to Roller Derby. Graphics pulled from outside sources.
Roller Derby Officiating Basics Flier - This is a very basic introduction to Officiating Roller Derby that I created with accessibility and simplified language in mind.
Rules Colored Glasses - Another great resource created by a very experienced, certified official who's been doing this much longer than I have.
There are several versions of Roller Derby that are played, with different rule sets. Flat Track Roller Derby is the most commonly played, and follow the rules, and rule changes and updates of Women’s Flat Track Roller Derby Association, or WFTDA.
JRDA (Junior Roller Derby Association) plays under the WFTDA rule set, and their rule changes usually follow WFTDA’s changes and updates. MRDA, Mens Roller Derby Association uses the same rule set as WFTDA, but with a few changes. These modifications are centered around safety and fairness.
Roller Derby is also played under the following rule sets:
USARS, or USA Roller Sports, which is also played on a flat track.
Banked Track Roller Derby, played on a tilted wooden track.
Short Track Roller Derby, created by Rolla Skate Club, is a unique version of roller derby played on a smaller track with fewer players and requires very few officiating volunteers.
WFTDA
The WFTDA website is an excellent resource for all things related to flat track roller derby.
Rules of Flat Track Roller Derby
This is THE Rules document. It's a lot to digest all at once. Please check out the summary before diving in:
Summary — The Rules of Flat Track Roller Derby
And because the rules leave LOTS of gray areas that we all debate, there is an official casebook.
Casebook — The Rules of Flat Track Roller Derby
These procedures are what is required for high-level, sanctioned play. Games and scrimmages are played within these basic guidelines, but practices, scrimmages, and non-regulation games may alter these procedures as needed.
WFTDA Officiating Cues, Codes, and Signals
How to issue penalties.
WFTDA Penalty Quick Reference
My favorite go-to guide for learning the basics of penalties
JRDA
When officiating for Juniors, there are some modifications to the rules.
FINAL DRAFT: JRDA Addenda to The Rules of Flat Track Roller Derby 2022-03 (sportngin.com)
It is important to start recording your officiating history as early as possible. Your history gives Head Officials and Tournament organizers an easy way to assess your skill level and where you'll fit on an officiating crew when rostering you. If you wait too long into your derby career to start collecting this information, it's hard to track down all the details.
This document is the old form, but this spreadsheet can get you started.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mXjmiZ-LGFl9LBHKWwdnxXvm1yAw4PuO9o97Z_3T7tM/edit?usp=sharing
The official WTDA History document takes some more effort to set up, and can be found here: Register a New WFTDA Officiating History Document (google.com)