shaebay: erinbrawls: derbyvirgin: CCR’s captain Gillotine Grace Delivering a Hit Even though this is a massive hit and it looked beautiful at first glance, something didn’t look quite right. After watching it a zillion times, I’ve decided not only does it look like a direction of gameplay, but I’m also fairly certain that at one point during the block she is completely airborne and that is super illegal. I wouldn’t say a direction of gameplay because her feet appear to be at a 70-80° angle. Definitely a BIG GIANT YES on the Misconduct though because both of her skates are off the ground while she is initiating contact. She is just straight up launching herself at the jammer and that is so super dangerous. I wouldn’t call anything on this, personally. The remaining skate does come off the floor but only as an after effect of the block. Blue’s butt makes contact with Black, and the rapid reduction in momentum appears to cause Blue’s skate to leave the floor. Skaters are moving in derby direction or slightly laterally during the hit, so no DoG.I’d be careful about over-analysing footage like this. If you didn’t spot it the first time round and have to resort to disecting a gif to isolate the millisecond of motion that may/may not make the hit illegal then you’re probably not going to have spotted the penalty in the first place. Trying to do so only usually leads to madness and sadness ;) Also, bear in mind the angle of the camera. What might look like a massive high block from the front can easily look like NI/NP to the ref. Sweet hit.

shaebay:

erinbrawls:

derbyvirgin:

CCR’s captain Gillotine Grace Delivering a Hit

Even though this is a massive hit and it looked beautiful at first glance, something didn’t look quite right. After watching it a zillion times, I’ve decided not only does it look like a direction of gameplay, but I’m also fairly certain that at one point during the block she is completely airborne and that is super illegal.

I wouldn’t say a direction of gameplay because her feet appear to be at a 70-80° angle. Definitely a BIG GIANT YES on the Misconduct though because both of her skates are off the ground while she is initiating contact. She is just straight up launching herself at the jammer and that is so super dangerous.

I wouldn’t call anything on this, personally. The remaining skate does come off the floor but only as an after effect of the block. Blue’s butt makes contact with Black, and the rapid reduction in momentum appears to cause Blue’s skate to leave the floor. Skaters are moving in derby direction or slightly laterally during the hit, so no DoG.

I’d be careful about over-analysing footage like this. If you didn’t spot it the first time round and have to resort to disecting a gif to isolate the millisecond of motion that may/may not make the hit illegal then you’re probably not going to have spotted the penalty in the first place. Trying to do so only usually leads to madness and sadness ;) Also, bear in mind the angle of the camera. What might look like a massive high block from the front can easily look like NI/NP to the ref. 

Sweet hit.

(Reblogged from rollerderbycity)

One Lonely Stripe: The Initiating Skater is responsible for the legality of her block . . .

lonelystripe:

There are few things that irk me on the track … too many official time outs … too long official time outs … rude fans … . But nothing is as bad as cocky skaters who think they do nothing wrong and get lippy with the officials … . lets run through some scenarios shall we??


First up is the…

This. ALL of this. 

Frustrated skaters, I can understand. Skill or circumstance has put them in a bad spot and they’re being penalised for it. In a tight game tempers can fray.

My bug is with Bench Coaches who seem to think that their role is to stress out the ref crew to the point where they’re either going to make a mistake or get them so rattled they’re just going to go along with whatever claims the bench makes. Mind games and straight up intimidation from the bench towards the officials is nothing but douchy bullshit. Stomping into the center to wave their arms around and tell the refs that they’re doing a terrible job before storming back out again shaking their heads and muttering. I know a lot of this is to boost the moral of their team and show that they have their back but it really does do the team a massive dis-service as they’re basically saying ‘you can’t win unless I have the ref crew off balance and doubting themselves’.

Downside is, this just makes the refs (who, in many cases have spent a lot of their own money travelling 3-4hrs to your game) add your team to a blacklist and not want to ref for them again. Also marks your team down as being ‘the team with the douchy bench’ which makes you ‘the douchy team’.

It strikes me as being strange that, with the game being pushed harder into the ‘legitimate sport’ category, this sort of thing still goes on. It’s a real throwback to ‘old derby’ that, in my opinion, needs to be left in the past.  

Let the skaters skill win them the game, not the bench’s mind games and harassment, right?

(Reblogged from lonelystripe)

TrackZilla!

The all-in-one solution to Roller Derby track laying. 3 people, 35mins, 1 track. This video features the prototype model. The production one will have a long…

Sweet!

To the person who worried they were too short for roller derby

nrg-tear:

fit-for-derby:

One of our many jammers is 4’ 11”

So I think you’re safe :)

Short jammers are a pain in my ass.  I have to really really get low to engage.

Heck yeah! One of the A-Team jammers from a local league is closer to 4’ 6” and she’s some sort of shape-shifting ninja when she jams! Keeps getting elbowed in the head at training, tho ….. :D

(Reblogged from nrg-tear)

At scrimmage when I call a no pack but then immediately realize there’s an obvious pack right in front of me

derbyref:

image

Often. So often.

(Reblogged from derbyref)

Reffing is hard

nrg-tear:

iron-maven:

So I don’t know about your league, but it’s been a common symptom for leagues around me to lose refs.

I think it’s pretty understandable for refs to lose interest, because, frankly, I probably would too. But a lot of refs leave because skaters are rude to them in gameplay, and this makes me do a double-take. Skaters being rude to refs….. ???!!?!?! How??? Why????? Team Zebra is the best of all the teams! The only team that always wins!

Read More

^^^ YUP

All of these words! One aspect of sport (all sports) that I never understood was the ‘love-to-hate-the-ref’ bit. Like it’s ok to scream abuse at them, from either on or off the track, and to bitch and moan about them in social forums. AND that they won’t recognise you or your league and won’t be mentally adding your league to the little black list that lives in their heads THAT REMEMBER ALL THE HURTS! 

Reffing is usually a very lonely and difficult persuit with all the same challenges of learning to derby but usually with none or little of the support network that is found by being a skater in a close-knit league. To go through all the difficulties of learning the rules back to front, learning to skate, learning to observe, assesses and call a penalty from a loooong menu of possible options with reference to any new clarifications, inter-ref discussions and standard practice guides…. all in a few seconds. And when they finally become good enough to put all that into practice in a real scrim or bout, they get told ‘YOU FUCKING SUCK! GO EAT A DICK, REF!’ ….. Even on their path to becoming a ref, they can get that kind of abuse at their own leagues training scrims. TRAINING SCRIMS!! The clue is in the name. ‘Training’. Imagine being a skater at training who is trying to stick an apex jump or to get plow stops right, and having a ref skate next to you telling you that you suck and that you keep screwing it up. How would you feel? Would you stay at that league……? 

Little tip: if you’re all sat in the suicide seats of a bout wearing your league shirts and then you’re hurling abuse at the refs and booing……. you *may*  experience difficulty in getting refs for your next game. Jus’ sayin’….. Zebras talk to each other. 

Be nice or leave. 

(Reblogged from nrg-tear)

Zebra fit

So! I need to work on my mental fitness. I’ve noticed lately that I really struggle to maintain my concentration all through a bout. Like I really have to force myself to take everything in. Usually this is when I’m OPRing as there isn’t usually one thing that I’m needing to focus on (jammer, Pack def..). Going to try using the Luminosity mental puzzle / brain training site for a bit as well as looking at my diet for more brain-friendly foods other than cakes and sugary drinks on bout day. Any tips?

Also, I GOT BOOED! Made a call on my jammer. Got a full-on pantomime boooooooooooo from the crowd! Awesome! Love it when the crowd boos me. Silly crowd. Donchoo know I are perfect and you are not so much?! ;)

Hisssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss! :D

“
Oh no I don’t want to jam - oh dear I’m the jammer and oh this is exciting now I am through the pack! Am I lead? *Whistle* Shit. Yes I am. Oh my god is that the opposing jammer going off is this a power jam AM I A POWER JAMMER oh jesus christ I’m not sure I can cope….. No I can, bam….*Whistle*…. Black 2QLA, Back block, Maaaajorrrrrrr!! ………………………….oh.
30 seconds in the life of a reluctant jammer. (via margaritakille)
(Reblogged from margaritakille)

I am seriously thinking about starting to wear shin guards

nrg-tear:

I know it’s not part of the regulation gear but I’ve seen too many seriously bruised up shins, and it just sounds like an invitation to break a leg. I want to be able to skate, not sit on the sidelines. What do you guys think?

Do it. Legs and ankles seem to be the most vulnerable part of skaters. I’ve seen a lot of leg injuries first hand. Not sure how much protection shin guards would give against leg breaks but it can’t hurt.

(Reblogged from nrg-tear)

So ….. I seem to be kind of a big deal……?

I reffed my first game 14 months ago. In the grand scheme of things that’s not a very long time. In the derby world, especially in the UK, that’s longer than about 1/2 of the leagues in the country have been running. In derby years, that sort of makes me a vet.

Which is odd. 

Looking at my ref CV, I’m up to 30 games reffed. Whilst I feel like I’ve really started to get into my groove and have developed my reffing style, I’m still very much learning as I go. In my home league, there are 5 other refs ‘under’ me who are looking to me for guidance and training. Within 15miles of our training venue, there are 3 other leagues who also look to me for training support and guidance. I’m being actively sought out by other leagues many miles away who I’ve had no or very little contact with before, to come and ref at their bouts. People are offering me travel and accommodation costs up front without me asking for them. I’ve been asked to Head Ref an open bout as well as a tournament….

This is all very exciting and flattering …. but ….. I can’t help but feel like a bit of a fraud. Like I’m a kid who has found a ref shirt and is playing at being a ref. I’m confident in my abilities and have successfully head reffed a couple of large scale scrims now but still ….. I look to other more experienced refs and see all the experience they have amassed and then I compare myself to them. If there was a choice between having me or them ref someones game, I would expect for them to be chosen over me every time.

I don’t really know where I’m going with this post. Just a bit of a musing to the universe in general. I guess I need to recognise that I’m ‘middle aged’ in terms of UK derby reffing. I’m by no means a veteran ref but I’ve got more experience than I did a year ago. I need to remember where I was then and who I looked to for help and advice. I’m really touched when I get thanked by newer refs who I’ve helped out by just reffing with them. I don’t really feel like I’ve helped anyone beyond just encouraging them and giving them positive feedback. I remember the sort of help I needed when I was starting out but I wasn’t really able to get it as I was learning to ref on my own and was having to learn from my own mistakes. I like to think that I can pass that experience on by just being ready to answer any questions that I can.