Reffing isn't a second choice for me

Every time I see this flyer, all I can think is, "Oh, dear. That's my butt." I mean, it's well-covered, but still. It's a weird thing to have your butt on a flyer.

I've been a roller derby official for more than seven years. I've reffed 125 games on skates and almost 50 off, which isn't a ton for that span of time, but considering my dislike for tournaments and devoting too much of my life to derby travel, that's not so bad.

When I first found roller derby, I wasn't aware of a single female official. I spent two years working my butt off learning how to play roller derby. I wasn't particularly fast or agile, and although I have a competitive streak, I found that I wasn't particularly aggressive either. I didn't really like hitting people. I thought maybe it was just because they were people I knew, that once I scrimmaged against strangers it would be different. But it wasn't. I liked the skating part but not much else.

There are so many reasons I decided to stop playing roller derby and become a ref. More than I could count on all my fingers and all my toes. I am sure there were some people who thought then (and maybe still think now) that I became a ref because I wasn't very good at playing roller derby. Officiating is often treated as the back up plan for people who, for whatever reason, can't commit to playing. But it wasn't like that for me. It's the right choice I just happened to take a circuitous route to get to.

I love being a roller derby official. It appeals to my analytical brain, my sense of fairness and order. It's hard and constantly changing. The various positions (on and off skates) require a tremendous range of skills and talents.

But it's no easy gig. There's a lot of pressure to do your job (whatever it happens to be) well, to ensure fairness. We talk a lot about safety, but usually we're just recognizing when something unsafe has happened and trying to get people to cool off and refocus before it escalates.

Being a female official adds an extra layer of complication. It can be hard to get skaters and other officials to recognize your authority. (Oddly, my height has also played into that. I'm 5'5", but apparently that's pretty short in the world of roller derby officials. I have never been patted on the head, but I know at least one official who has and I've definitely experienced metaphorical head patting.)

And officials get injuries, too. I've collided with plenty of skaters and other refs; one incident a few years ago led to a concussion. I managed to stretch out a tendon in my neck/shoulder area last year that caused an incredible amount of pain and kept me from reffing on skates for 11 months.

But I'm back to reffing on skates at least part-time now, and I don't see myself giving any of it up any time soon. My league is holding a recruitment event for officials this Monday (see above flyer for details!), and I'm excited at the prospect of gaining some new people on our crew.
-----

Roller derby has been a huge part of my life for the last decade. My league is trying to buy the rink where I do most of my skating before it goes out on the open market, because a regular buyer would likely repurpose the space. You can read more about the Capital Campaign and donate online (every little bit helps!) here.

There's a very short timeline to raise the money the league needs for the down payment. The deadline is 3/7, the day after I turn 37. I see some magic and luck in that. To help do my part, I'm going to write about the tremendous influence derby has had on my life until we hit the deadline.