Skating Officials
Referees, a.k.a. Skating Officials, are essential for ensuring safety and fair play during a bout. Skating Officials wear roller skates during practice and bouts. They fill multiple positions in a bout or scrimmage, and are staffed by volunteers.
What are the benefits of being a Referee?
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- You get to roller skate! Referees can be any gender and are members of the Rose City Rollers.
- Being a part of world-class derby. Referees practice and train every Wednesday during Rose City league scrimmage. You’re part of the action when home teams and travel team practice and scrimmage each other.
- Learn about derby. There’s no better way to learn the rules of roller derby than to be a part of the officials crew.
- No experience needed. Referees have their own practice time dedicated to ref skills and skating skills, and are trained in skating skills before they participate in officiating.
How Do You Become A Referee?
Email Officials/Referees. Skating officials must have skates, and the appropriate safety gear. (knee pads, elbow pads, helmet, wristguards)
Non-Skating Officials
Roller derby is awesome! And you can get involved in the action even if you don’t skate. If you love rules, whistles and clipboards, being a Non-skating Official is for you. If you want to support your friends/family in derby, being a Non-skating Official is for you. If you want to be part of a community that supports girls, women and non-binary skaters in competitive sports, being a Non-skating Official is for you.
NSOs are the backbone of any officials crew. As the name implies, NSOs take on the officiating positions that don’t involve being on-skates. NSOs fill multiple positions within a bout or scrimmage and are staffed by volunteers.
What are the benefits of being an NSO?
- Being a part of bouts: NSOs perform vital roles for bouts, and the Rose City Rollers have one of the best NSOs crews in the country.
- Being a part of world-class derby every week: NSOs practice and train every Wednesday during Rose City league scrimmage, which means that you’ll be seeing home teams and travel team play against each other.
- Learning about derby: Whether you’re a skater or a devoted fan, there’s no better way to learn the game and the rules of roller derby than being a part of the officials crew.
- No experience needed: No skating skills are required, and no gear is necessary.
What will I be doing as an NSO?
A few examples of the positions that NSOs run during a game:
- Scorekeepers: Work with the jammer refs to keep score. Since the team with the most points wins the game, this is a very important position.
- Lineup Trackers: Track all the skaters in each lineup.
- Penalty Box Timers: Skaters who receive penalties have to serve time in the penalty box. Penalty box timers stand behind the penalty box and ensure skaters serve the proper time.
- Penalty Trackers: Responsible for keeping track of penalties. They stand in the center of the track.
- Jam Timer: Start each jam and period with a whistle blast. Requires purchase of a Fox 40 whistle. They stand in the center of the track.
How do you become an NSO?
Email nso@rosecityrollers.com or use our form to contact NSOs and we’ll get you started. No special equipment is required to begin, so don’t hesitate to drop us a line!