Being involved in derby - part 1: Officially Official

Being involved in derby
Roller derby can take over your life. It can and with me it pretty much has. In the first place I am a skater, but I do a lot of stuff in and around derby that doesn't have to do with playing directly. That's why I want to talk about the other ways that I am involved in derby and what I take from it. This is the first one, all about being official.

Picture by Christopher Yarrow

When I started Roller Derby I had no idea what this game was all about. Seeing how derby was still pretty new in Europe and we were the first league in our country there was not a lot of derby around to go and see and learn from. The first time I went to even see a bout after I started was 9 months later in Berlin. Not really around the corner, cause it's a decent 6 hour drive from Amsterdam to Berlin.
But even when I did get to watch bouts live or online, I didn't necessarily understand all of what was going on in the game. Especially cause I seem to have a little "condition" called "hooliganism". Whenever I get to watch a bout I turn in to a total hooligan and scream my lungs out. Which is all fine and dandy, and maybe fun for the teams playing, but it doesn't leave a lot of room for focusing on the game and whats going on.
The other thing was, that in our first year we were focusing mostly on skating skills and basic derby skills and we weren't scrimmaging yet. When you haven't played a scrimmage yet (or worked a bout for that matter) you don't really have that "feel" yet for the game. You don't feel the excitement you feel right before the first whistle, you don't feel the pain shooting through your body when you get a great hit, you don't feel your body working hard and you definitely don't get the same feel for the game as when you play. 

So what can you do to get more of a feel for the game when you cannot play yet? When you are still fresh meat, or even when a certain injury makes it that you cannot play.
I found that a good way was by being a part of the game. And not as the hooligan, but as an official.

The first time I ever worked a bout as a Non Skating Official (NSO) was in November 2010 in Stuttgart; Stuttgart Valley Rollergirls vs Go Go Gent Roller Girls. I had the position of outside white board and had no idea what I was doing. I of course had read about what I was supposed to be doing, but I had no idea what it would mean to be a part of the officials crew. I understood, of course, that I wasn't supposed to cheer. And I was supposed to be impartial. But I didn't really understand what it meant until I was working that very first bout.

Being part of an officials crew, means that even though you are impartial and not supporting one team, you are supporting roller derby it self in the highest way possible. Cause you are making sure this game can be played the  way the girls want to play it. 

For me, being a skater (first and foremost), this made a huge impression. Realizing how important our officials are for our game. 

But it did more then just give me respect for officials. It gave me that feel for the game, without being able to play. 

I was part of the action. And because of officials role, I for once got to focus on all going on, cause I had to keep my "hooliganism" in check. 

And it was a great experience. 

After this first time I went on to NSO the first German Meisterschaft: Roll DMC.

That's when I got a real feel of what it meant to be a part of team No-Fun.... It's so much FUN! I don't mean to say that officials secretly have a lot of fun and don't take their jobs seriously. Cause I think they take their jobs very seriously. But I did also see the "other side" of the officials. The side that they do not show on track. And that is a very fun side. 



The officials crew for Roll DMC
Picture by Michael Wittig

 

Accept for feeling like a part of the game, getting more of that feel for the game and gaining more respect and understanding for officials I also noticed something else. 

As I started working more and different NSO positions I felt like my understanding of the game and the rules improved immensely. And I am not saying that the only way of getting this understanding is by officiating. But I sure do think it helped me a whole bunch. There are several reasons why. First of all because in officials meetings and during the games you hear all about how refs call certain penalties and why. Another reason is that refs love to discuss rules. All.the.time. And even though I might not be the best rules nerd in the world and I will probably zone out after 30+ minutes of rules discussion, I do think I have picked up quite a lot of the years by hanging out with officials.

Also just the NSO jobs it self teach you a lot about how the game has been set up, how it works, as NSO's are there to make sure the game runs smoothly. And even though everybody (should) reads the rules, I still see that many people don't understand all the rules when it comes to the penalty box and jammers. Also being able to fill out all that paperwork and knowing what says what, where and why, makes it a lot easier to understand the stats book and to analyze it.

Now 2,5 years after I started NSO'ing, I've been playing bouts as a skater for 2 years, but I still love to NSO. I don't do it super often, as derby takes over you life enough as it is with "just" being a skater. 

But I do try and NSO at tournaments and a bout every now and again. 

And I still feel I learn something new every time. 

Last month I was working the Men's European Roller Derby Championships and in my very first bout I was working the penalty box and all ready learned something new. The blockers and jammer of one of the teams were super communicative while in the box. As in when their jammer had lead but there were several of their blockers in the box, the blockers would communicate to their jammer (every time he lapped the box) what their time was, so he would keep going until their box was empty. And therefore they could start the next jam with a empty box. 

I am sure this sounds like peanuts or basic stuff for some. But it was kind of an eye opener for me. As we have never really did it that way. Of course we try to empty out our box, but never like that. It was a very confident and "in control" way of running the game. And it was good to see. I am not sure I would have noticed the same thing or as quickly if I would have been in the audience. But because I was working the box, and the blockers kept asking every few seconds what their time was I noticed a lot quicker why they were asking, what their strategy was behind it. 

 

So yeah the conclusion of this blog post is that I love NSO'ing. For several reasons:

• You get to be part of the game and get a feel for the game more then when you are in the audience. 
• You get to be part of the funnest team no-fun there is
• You get to facilitate the BEST sport in the world
• You learn so much more about the rules and the way stuff is called
• (a lot of times) I learn more about game play then while screaming my lungs off in the audience 

 - Furrrocious

Roll DMC - What a day!!

Friday
After spending a almost a week in Berlin, my fellow ADD ladies arrived on Friday. After some hang out time, it was registration time at the Berlin Bombshells practice space.



After declaring that we take full responsibility if we break our legs or get paralyzed and more stuff like that, the officials meeting started.
Riff Reff (Stuttgart) and Dr. No-No (Berlin) did a great job at organizing the officials side of Roll DMC. The refs and NSO's were split up in three teams, Treptow, NeuKölln and Kreuzburg. Each team worked two bouts and for the finals the head refs created one team with all the 'best' refs and NSO's from the whole day.
After the meeting it was time to socialize and with a group of officials we had a bite to eat at this great restaurant.

Seeing how we needed to be at the Arena the next day at 10 am it seemed wise not to go out and party. But my wifey Lola Rock 'n' Rolla had her birthday coming up on saturday so we went to the bar to be able to toast on her b-day at midnight. After that we went straight back to the hostel, so we wouldn't be tempted into partying more then we should!


Saturday - The BIG day
It was a crazy morning, after not sleeping to much, due to excitement for the big day , a lovely but snoring roommate, some roommates that weren't NSO'ing the next day and did go out for drinks, and these awesome derby girls from Rotterdam and Utrecht that I had placed in a room above ours (....) and enjoyed partying a lot, I went on a quest to find my derby wife, Lola rock 'n' Rolla a birthday cake at 8.30 am in berlin...
It was crazy, but I managed. :) After all surprising her for her birthday, me, Vegan Vengeance, Limpin' lily and Belle Anger set off to the Arena.
Once there we had another officials meeting, and starting getting ready for the first bout!




The first bout was between the Stuttgart Valley Roller Girls All stars and Rollergirls and friends.
It was also the first bout that I was NSO'ing. It was great being a part of this exciting event and even though my NSO job as outside whiteboard isn't the most important job on the earth, it still felt great to be a part of it all.
The officials teams are so important to the game and you learn so much about it by NSO'ing. I would definitely advice each derby girl to do this. Although the most annoying thing about being a Non Skating Official, is the Non Skating part. Man oh man, how it is torture to see everybody skate! I wanted nothing more then to skate myself. But I will skate a bout, one day....

The bouts lasted 2 x 20 min, and to be honest they were over before I knew it. I was working together with a great team.
On the referee team we had:
Matt the knife - inside pack #1 + Head Ref (Leeds)
Dr. No-No - Inside pack ref #2 (Berlin)
TestosteRon Jeremy - Jammer ref #1 (Helsinki)
Crank Skice - Jammer ref #2 (Barock city)
Joe Rout - Outside pack ref #1 (Stockholm)
Fluke Skywalker - Outside pack ref #2 (Stockholm)
Zäpp VänDäle - Outside pack ref #3 (Hamburg)

On the NSO team:
Nena - score keeper #1 (Berlin)
Maelstrom - score keeper #2 (Paris)
Rosa DeLux - Penalty tracker #1 (Berlin)
Brute el Peste - Penalty tracker #2 (Paris)
Ma'am Phizz - Penalty board (Stuttgart)
Mary ME - Jam timer (Berlin)
Mojo jojo - Penalty timer Jammer / box supervisor
Ms. High-handed - Penalty timer blocker #1(Berlin)
Christina Agapitou - Penalty timer blocker #2 (Berlin)
Cosmic ReAction - Outside Whiteboard #1 (Stuttgart)
And me Furrrocious - Outside whiteboard #2

You can see we had a pretty international group, and it was great working with so many derby refs and nso's from all over Europe!
As an Outside whiteboard you write up the penalties the outside pack refs report and communicate them to the inside to the penalty trackers.
So I was most in touch during the game with the outside pack refs, especially with Joe Rout and Fluke Skywalker both from Stokholm. And even though they didn't have to much to report to me, we had a good time working together. It was a great team to work with in general, the communication was good and there was great team work.

I am not going to give you all a recap on every bout, because first of all, I am not a derby expert (yet), and second I was working during a lot of them, so I had a different look on the game. But I will advice you all to go see them at: http://justin.tv/eurorollerderby/b/275532878
You'll love the commentary, it's Swede hurt (and Mad Maloony) and she actually says during the final:
"NSO's out there in the world, you know we love you guys, you are very important to all of us!"
Thanks for saying that Swede!


The whole officials team:



Photo by Michael Wittig

I said earlier how frustrating it was not to be able to skate. Well I found out after the first bout how annoying it was to not be able to Scream and Shoot during other bouts... Being an official is all about being impartial. So even when you are not working you can not cheer on other teams. And even though I am actually impartial about the teams in Germany. There are just sometimes that you want to scream at an awesome block or whatever, and I love doing that. I really become a little hooligan! :p But I couldn't.....

So after NSO'ing two bouts and watching a couple more, it was time for the bout for third and fourth place, between Devil Dolls Essen and Hanse Connection for the last bout.
And Essen won!! Number 3 of Germany, a great score I would say. One of the Essen girls, Lola Brentt formally know as Gina Gasolina is one of the most awesome Derby girls I know! And is actually Dutch! :) Here she is as a Jammer skating her but off!!



Photo by Michael Wittig

The finals were, as expected, between Stuttgart Valley Roller Girls All Stars and the Berlin bombshells.
After the game between the dolls and hanse the head refs picked the refs and nso's that would be working the final bout. All of us Amsterdam Derby Dames NSO's wanted to work it, and were very happy to hear we all got picked! So me and Vegan did the outside whiteboard and Belle Anger served as a penalty tracker and Limpin' lily as a score keeper.

It was a crazy bout!!! The place was packed and there were 'camps' for both teams cheering as loud as they could. It was just amazing!!



Photo by Michael Wittig

As the bout started it was very clear that these two teams were equally good and it would be a close one.
The teams both showed some really beautiful Roller Derby, great hits, blocks, whips and very fast and skilled Jammers!
As an NSO I was a lot busier at this bout. More penalties were caught by the outside pack refs, which was good cause there was some much going on.
I was standing at turn one, and had a great view at the Pivot line, so I saw the start of every jam. It was great!



Photo by Michael Wittig

It was really hard to hear the outside pack refs sometimes, because the Stuttgart fans were right behind me and screaming their heads off!! It was so loud and wild, really amazing to see and experience how big Roller Derby can be in Europe.




In the end, it was down to the last jam which would decide who was going to be Germany's first Champion. As the score keepers were giving the score keeper the final jam's score, the crowd went completely crazy! As Berlin got their points first, they seemed to have won, so their fans went wild. But then Stuttgart's points came in and they got four points more then Berlin. Setting the finale score to 124-128.
The crowed went mad, and then the Derby love was showed, by the final laps, where the crowed stands around the track and skaters high five everybody around the track. I love that. It such a nice interaction between skaters and the audience.
Then the Berlin bombshells as organizers of this great event, gave out Thank you buttons to refs and NSO's and medals to the teams.
It was just a great bout, a amazing championship, an awesome day all together!! And I am so glad I was lucky enough to be a part of it.

One of the nice benefits about Roller Derby bouts/events is that derby girls know how to throw a party. And the after party was great! It was at another part of the arena and there where bands playing and it was just a great way of hanging out with other derby girls from all over Europe!



This is me and my Derby wife Lola Rock 'n' Rolla and my brand new intentional Derby wife Vegas (Stuttgart). These great ladies, both had their birthdays during this day!

Again thanks to the Berlin Bomshells for organizing this great event, thanks to Dr. No-No an Riff Reff for organizing the officials side of the championship, you did a great job! And thanks of course to all those derby girls playing their asses off and the last thanks goes out to the officials team, it was a pleasure meeting all of you and working together!

- Furrrocious



Ps: Pictures of the bout that you see here, came from the Berlin Bomshells Facebook - for more great pictures, check them out on their profile.

Sprechen sie Derby??

The best part of Roller Derby Is of course the bout it self.
Seeing how the Amsterdam Derby Dames haven't played yet, and no other leagues in holland are ready to play a bout, we have to travel if we want to see a live bout. You could say, that this is really annoying. And of course it is in some way, but I happen to love road trips!! And lucky me, cause so does my Derby wife Lola Rock 'n' Rolla.
Earlier this week we decided it would be cool to go to Stuttgart and see the bout between SVRG Rookies and GGGRG.
I contacted the Gent girls, and heard the pre-sale tickets were sold out.... Which of course is great, but not if you don't have tickets yet.
So I contacted Riff Reff, Stuttgart's own Head Ref. Asking him if there were still tickets left and if he might know a cheap place to stay. Luckily there were still some tickets left, to be sold at the door, and he could make sure we could get two. But he also suggested i would NSO. Seeing how I will be NSO'ing in Berlin in a couple of weeks and have no experience in doing that. It would be a good chance to practice. I was so excited, I immediately said yes!
He also arranged for us to crash at one of the SVRG girls, Valerie. Which was just perfect!






After packing up my 'official' gear, we left Saturday morning at 9 for our 5.30 hour drive to Stuttgart.





Now let me tell you there are a lot of good things about driving to Germany with a German driving the car. Lola is first of all used to driving for a long time and actually enjoys it. Also the right hand lane, is not her favorite lane. And her car will go faster then a 120km/h. :)






I also love driving through Germany, because it is so pretty. Mountains, forest, trees. Its so pretty.







Around 2.30 we arrived at Valerie's house. We made a really good time. Only stopping for the necessary bathroom brakes, and not hitting any traffic jams.






At Valerie's house we quickly changed and left again. For Valerie had to be there at 4, and me too for an officials meeting.
We took the subway to the venue which is just outside of stuttgart.

My first 'officials meeting' before a bout was really informative. I got to see how this part of roller derby is organized.
The officials team (Ref's and NSO) is so important. As a part of starting league I think its so important to see how this works too. It's not just the players you need.

At 6 the bout started. The hall was filled with supporters. From both sides! A bus load of people from Belgium showed up, which was very cool, to have so much support on a 'away bout'.
The Ref's and NSO's came in first and we all stood in the middle of the track. After that the girls of both teams skated around and were introduced one by one. I think this was actually the most nerve wrecking. Standing there in the middle in front of all these people! I will probably puke the first time I get on the track to play...







Finally it was time to actually start the bout! All the girls were ready to play.
And I, was ready to NSO! :) Standing next to the track at the corner armed with a whiteboard, a marker and a cloth, I was ready to communicate those penalties to the penalty trackers on the inside.

The bout itself was exciting. The teams were true opponents, as the scores were pretty close together most of the bout. Half time started and both teams had exactly the same amount of points! And they stayed close for a long time, except for one moment where GGGRG had double the amount of points as SVRG had. But the bout was undecided till the absolute last jam. In which the SVRG Rookies (who had been behind a couple of points before that jam started) scored enough points to win!






For me experiencing the bout as an NSO was a lot different from watching it from the stands. I couldn't scream, cheer or clap or anything like that. Because first of all, you are busy and focussed on your job, and secondly, because NSO's and Ref's have to be impartial. So you can't cheer for a team even if you had the time too.
I would have had the time, there were enough penalties, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't crazy busy with writing every jam.
The most annoying thing about doing the NSO job of outside whiteboard, is that refs are in a hurry, so you don't always understand what they are saying so quickly, and that penalty trackers don't pay attention to you sometimes, which leaves you standing there next to the track bouncing up and down with your whiteboard! Of course it's understandable, because on the inside of the track it's crazy busy. So it's not that they are ignoring you and purpose. But it's also not like you scream to them 'hey look at me'. Cause for those who haven't been to a RD bout, it's one hell of a loud sport!






In the end it was a great bout. And I am so happy I got the chance to experience NSO'ing. And to see the bout a little more from an organizational side of things, instead of being a spectator.

Luckily, a bout isn't a roller derby bout, unless it has an after party! :p And Stuttgart knows how to throw one.
They continued the 80's theme at the after party. And even though I am not that much into 80's music I had a great time. And was dancing and singing along most of the night!







The thing I like the best about the roller derby after party, next to the drinking, singing and dancing, is meeting all these rad roller derby ladies and gents! I have met so many awesome people from Stuttgart, Gent, Antwerp an Rotterdam. And that was just great! Not just talking on facebook or through email, but in real life is just great.

The days after are always kind of a downer, as you have to get back to reality (with a huge hangover of course..). You just wish it could be bout day everyday!
Luckily for me, I have practice tonight. So I'll get my shot of derby!!

- Furrrocious