These are useful things that OTHER people have put together to help derby officials. They are ALSO not official! But in this case, the mistakes aren't even my fault! Like everything else on the internet, it's important to carefully judge the reliability of any information before accepting it as useful. This especially includes any nonsense I personally have posted, and goes triple for anything on Facebook.
Highly respected WFTDA referee Aaron Propes has put together an amazing series of videos covering many aspects of refereeing roller derby. There's a LOT of material here, but the engaging narration really helps you not only learn the rules, but get a sense of how experienced officials think when they are watching derby.
Axis of Stevil from "Roller Derby Rule of the Day" has produced a terrific series of videos going into detail on a lot of different refereeing topics, from the elementary to the complex. They are based on his training curriculum linked below.
The best way to get a sense of what well officiated derby looks like is to watch well officiated derby! WFTDA.TV archives playoffs, champs, and a few other high level tournaments.
A webinar presented by Nick "Bullseye" Brown, Jon Obst, and Jennifer "Jeneral Pain" Sims on the basics of scoreboard operation using CRG 2023.
From Roller Derby Paris, a series of example videos where you can discuss the correct calls in the comments.
An ongoing series of YouTube Videos made by Ovary Actor from Arcadiana Roller Derby. In this series, she works her way through the WFTDA casebook and gives a video presentation on each case and the rule behind it.
A great series of videos from Dublin Roller derby covering the details of filling out the paperwork for various NSO positions.
A great blog from Skew, an official in the UK, who has been doing a series of deep dives into various aspects of the rules. Well worth a read.
Online discussion forum for roller derby officials. Basically defunct as of 2024. Interesting for historical reasons only at this point.
A set of open source guides to NSO positions. Definitely worth checking out!
Created by Roller Derby Rule of the Day's Axis of Stevil, this comprehensive set of materials goes into a terrific amount of detail on the ins and outs of refereeing.
Created by Sleaze the Zebra, this is a twelve week curriculum for learning skating skills and rules knowledge for referees. It has not been updated for the 2017 ruleset, but is still a good starting point.
The only scoreboard software worth considering for your games. Used by WFTDA for all playoffs and championships, none of the alternatives come anywhere close to its legibility and stability. If you want to try some new features, at the risk of a bit less battle testing, download the latest dev version!
The official documentation for CRG Scoreboard.
A program that can extract real times stats and graphs from CRG. Good stuff!
The Ultimate Roller Derby Ubiquitous Magnet Board! Goofy name aside, this is a great tool for visualizing pack definition and for creating useful graphics for illustrating rules concepts.
Roller Derby Rules Clarification and Tough Questions
Good: Many people read and respond to this group. Some of them are highly experienced, knowledgeable officials.
Bad: Many people read and respond to this group. Some of them are knuckleheads.
Ugly: You may not be able to tell which is which.
Developed by WFTDA Clinic instructor Nine Inch Wheels, this is a method many experienced NSOs use for filling out scorekeeping paperwork. It's a great way to help keep track of events in the jam, and can often allow you to save your Jam Ref's bacon if they get confused.
This model for PLT was also developed by Nine Inch Wheels. However, now that there is an official system from WFTDA, probably it is worth considering whether that might not work better for you. (They're actually really, really similar, but the WFTDA one can be integrated with the main statsbook.)
This is a great guide to hand to your medical staff. It talks about what medical personnel who are unfamiliar with derby need to know to be more effective at keeping your skaters safe!
Information for Deaf or Hard of Hearing Derby Participants
Some of this information is out of date, but it's a good starting point for thinking about inclusion:
Largely a derby podcast, this also includes a complete reading of the 2019 WFTDA Ruleset, suitable for listening while jogging, driving, or operating heavy machinery.