Become a women’s roller derby referee, why not?
Yeah, that’s normal, said one of my high school friends via facebook. I can’t say I was looking to become a referee, it more or less happen because my wife joined the derby team and I could skate.
When my wife first started she told me she’ll never wear fishnets because they look less lady like (in fewer words), and what would people say! Around her second month of skating, her top dresser drawer was stocked full of fishnets and tights. She came to realize you don’t want floor burns so you need to cover your legs, but you don’t want to overheat… Enter fishnet leggings. She enjoys the dirty and sometimes lengthly stares she gets when she stops at a convience store to get water before or after practice.
In fact, my wife and I stopped at a gas station on the way home from practice around 11pm. She initially stayed in the car because she was tired, so I ran in and grabbed water and a couple scratch off lottery tickets. This group of girls in their 20′s was behind at the check out counter talking about the bar they just left. They followed me out of the gas station and got into a car parked close to ours. Not thinking anything of it, I took a moment to scratch off the lottery tickets and won a couple of dollars. Then, my wife decided she wanted to get a snack. I told her to take the lottery ticket in, cash it and get herself a snack. She got out of the car and as soon as she passed the front of the vehicle I heard one of the girls mutter, he’s got a prostitute! I realized that I was still dressed in my nice work clothes and my wife of course was wearing fishnets, shorts, and a t-shirt. I could easily see how this combination of individuals could reflect a John and his paid for friend. I laughed to myself. Then a cop pulled up on the other side of our car… Nothing else happen but, it still made for a funny story.
Women’s roller derby has the stigma that it’s like WWF only with girls on skates throwing elbows, and people assume all the girls are EMO. Then they ask is there any real point to the game? I agree we’ve all watched or heard of some 1970′s low budget film with roller derby being somewhat like that.
Fast forward to 2001, and you’ll see the addition of women’s flat track derby. It’s elevated the sport to a new standard, bringing forth a whole new caliber of athelete. There are organizations committed to the growth and organzation of the sport see (http://www.wftda.com). The association I referee for uses the WFTDA rules and regulations as it’s core.
There are roughly 20-30 skaters there during practices and only a hand full of referees. It takes 7 referees and an army of non-skating officials to have a successful bout (a bout is another word for game / match). I enjoy the sport even though I’m only a referee. I get to skate and participate with the girls during their endurance training which, I very much need because I don’t get much physical activity.
So, being a roller derby referee will be just another thing I enjoy that only a few people understand. I once played the obscure sport of lacrosse in college and it had the stigma of being very dangerous. My mother showed up to the games and didn’t understand what was going on (like the other 90% of the parents in the stands), so she just yelled, “wack him”, because that’s all it looked like we were doing to her.
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- Referee in transit
