How I Know Roller Derby Is Consuming My Soul

1. Pretty much every weekend since August, every Saturday (and sometimes Sunday) has been spent officiating roller derby games far and wide. Longest I have traveled so far was 3.5 hours away with my carpool.

2. Attended my league's recreational roller derby league religiously (except once) even when my body was feeling like waste.

3. Explored new wheels via my teammates. I've learned lots more about the size of a person, skating style, and functions through wheels.

4. Researched new skates, even when I couldn't afford them. I have my eye on the Riedell She Devils... Am also researching bearings, how to clean them and what kinds to buy.

5. Dreamed in roller derby. The most recent dream I had was of running a marathon through a ghetto... racing against my teammates.

6. In charge of my team's monthly newsletter.

7. Volunteered for fundraising and PR events even though a volunteer such as myself is not required to volunteer more time outside of officiating.

8. Contrary to being an introvert, am getting out and conversing more with other skaters and officials. I want to live and breathe this world.

9. Attracted to clothing with vertical black and white stripes... someday I will be a referee before I become a skater.

Collision Coalition Tournament: My First Co-ed NSOing

My team and I carpooled together to spend the weekend up in Ukiah, CA, for the Collision Coalition Tournament. Another milestone in my budding career as an NSO was that I was selected to be one of the three crew heads! Amazing. I will be officiating a total of four games in one day. I snapped an awful photo of the NSO roster:

Yes, I also got to work the penalty box, which I hear can be quite interesting when roller derby men are involved. Thankfully I did not have to issue any serious warnings to anybody.

How to make an Official's Job Fun

1. Have your skater number printed on your lower back. Unlike a tattoo, it will scrunch up and allows us to use our deducing skills to figure out what it says.

2. Wear jammer panties whose star shape is difficult to discern from a distance to delineate you as a jammer.

3. Pick font styles and sizes that are hard to read from a distance.

4. Have your number peel off your shirt.

On Wheels Again

Five days ago I finally changed out my outdoor wheels to my indoor wheels. The weather in the bay area had changed from rainy one week to sunny hot the next week, then repeat cycle. Had been like that for the past few months. Indoor skating would be the safest bet in my busy life where my free time don't start until 8 pm on average.

I hit up retro night at the skating rink. Truth be told, I was anxious. The last time I was on wheels was back in August, or even before. The drinking fountain broke, so it encouraged my broke ass not to skate as hard.

After 15 minutes I was already working up some aches and heat in my legs. After about an hour the rink turned on the lights and played Red Light Green Light. Just in time, because I was gimping on skates due to my right foot.

I've learned a few things from my skating session today:

1) There's not as much stress placed on my foot if I picked them off the floor instead of shuffling around.

2) I'm finally going to have to take care of my flat wide feet and go to REI for custom foot pads per Postal Servix's instruction.

3) Relax!

Saturday 10/15 Bouts at San Jose Skate

Although I think every bout I've NSO'd in is an exhilarating experience, I have to say that the past double header bout is the epitome of what an intuitive and cohesive NSO team is like. Both bouts I was in the penalty team (on the inside track). The fluidity by which the penalty trackers, wranglers and referees worked together to cover for one another blew me out of the water.

Orange County Roller Girls did an amazing job on their officials team.

I just found an email that I had written to Juicy K. Tore of SVRG inquiring about joining as a skater. This was back in July 30, 2009.

Stats Team First-Timer

Working statistics sounded like a job that is high up there, higher than any NSO position. This past weekend, we literally were the highest volunteers - we were in the skybox of the Oakland Convention Center!

Working stats require your full attention and a good set of eyes with a good view at all times during a bout. With the help of my senior NSOs Bookslinger and TaraByte, I submitted a roller derby resume to the Bay Area Derby Girls as a candidate for NSOing for their three-day Golden Bowl Tournament against Windy City, Texas, and Detroit. I was not contacted, but I ended up being inducted into Allyaz Stoned's Golden Bowl Stats Team.

There are two statistics we take: Actions and Errors. I've only done actions once at a scrimmage, and I had no idea what I was doing except to follow the instructions of the spotter. Actions and Errors teams usually come in two's: a Spotter (the watcher of the rollergirls in a bout) and the Recorder (the... recorder with pencil and paper). Obviously with my experience, it is best that I take on the role of a Recorder.

Of all other officials, stats people get to watch the bout. For the first time in a while, I got to see the game while working. Usually all the other NSO positions require detail to a specific duty, and you would not be doing your job if you tried to watch the bout as a whole. All the bouts I've been to since this season have been as an NSO, never just watching for the fun of it. Don't get me wrong - NSOing is fun, but I miss a lot of the juicy stuff. We had unobstructed view of all the referees, NSOs, skaters, and coaches. I was able to pick up some do's and don't's from my colleagues, enhancing my roller derby experience.

The stats team was fun. I got to watch some high caliber roller derby as well as help out the sport as a whole. Too bad I missed obtaining some swag, especially the Golden Bowl tee, but there will be more tournies in the future.