Over the last eight years I’ve worked with a number of officials from leagues I’ve worked with that had their working relationship with their leagues change from productive and pleasant to bad and abusive. Over the last few years I joined that membership myself, as my league decided that a super-star skater could publicly abuse people anyone she wanted, regardless of rule or policy, because of her status. Like all these people, I thought my league would be able to be reasoned with, shown the pattern of abuse, and follow their conscious. They failed. I took my first break with derby in nine years and among other things considered both my, and my friends’ situations, and came to a conclusion: officials, when dealing skaters in a Human Resources capacity, especially high-value skaters, are always at a disadvantage. Many skaters don’t appreciate the value of officials, especially when compared to a skater - none of which should matter for off-the-track dealings because we should be talking about how one human being treats another - but because of that imbalance, we’re all too often given the short shift.





The WFTDA rightfully took a for the skaters by the skaters approach because the top-down structure that most sports have disregards the wants and desires of the people actually playing the sport. But both cultures tend to ignore, or aren’t structured to address, the desires and needs of the officials for that sport. Most sports try to counter-balance that by creating officials’ organizations, that advocate on the behalf of their officials - they work on training officials, teaching people about what it takes to be an official, and if necessary level charges or even blacklists a league that takes things too far.





Roller Derby is a different sport than most: it stresses community. So the common punishment for rocking the boat is an excisement from that community - and while aimed at the person trying to right a wrong (or blowing a whistle), the main message is for the remainder of the people involved: STFU or you’ll be next. The people in charge of these leagues know that short of moving to a different city, there’s no other option for being involved in roller derby - therefore they have, and I’ve seen this used on multiple people myself included, used this nuclear option. You may have been a league member for years, and we all know how derby consumes your social life - the message is clear: don’t rock the boat or you’ll never be allowed back.





I have for most of my adult life, been involved with advocacy organizations for different peoples and situations. My brother was born with Spina Bifida before the Americans with Disability Act and attempts were made to shut him out of locations and schools; it was only that my family were well off, could afford lawyers - and being white didn’t hurt - that he got a proper education and could go to certain public facilities (fun fact: one such facility hosted the WFTDA Championships in 2014). As a white male, I try to take into account my privilege when I see others protest, and as as an official who can survive the consequences of banishment due to current and prior privileges, I feel it’s import I speak out about this situation.





I’m going to talk a little about my own experiences with my old league, let’s call them Lefse Village, in order to share some of the things I learned on dealing with this on a personal level. The biggest thing I did right, such was gathering all the documentation I could regarding the abuser and the process of getting anything (or in my case, nothing) done: I know I said that I’m skeptical about getting justice, especially if the player is considered a “big deal” in the league, but I found it was really helpful for me. When Lefse Village said that I needed to be kicked out of the league, I could look back at the documentation I saved and say to myself, “I’m not crazy.” I could look at the pages of documents about that skater, and everything the league did to avoid punishing her, and see that the messed up situation was with the league leadership, not me.





The first rule of thumb when documenting is save everything, even if it’s doesn’t include anything new or actionable. Sort of like NSO paperwork, you want to re-create the circumstances and the attempts to redress the issue. The good news is most leagues do their work electronically, via email, Slack, or other sources. Save every email in a special folder. Copy Slack chats. Get copies of league rules and procedures in case things get really nasty (and you’re removed from the league without an ability to respond - something I didn’t do. Again, everything: from the skater, from your Human Resources people, from the Board of Directors.





If your league actually attempts to go at this fairly, you now have a complete timeline, at least from when things progressed from singular annoyance to a long-term problem. If the league decides to allow the abuse to continue, you have choices: I have to admit I was really tempted to take my documentation and dump it publicly for the world to see. But the reality is that taking down the league in a great fireball wouldn’t be productive and likely wouldn’t work. It also affects people who aren’t responsible or may also be victims of that same abuser. So now I have a different plan: first, I contacted other people who’ve been victimized in this process and showed them all my documentation - some have left the league, some have not; some have said they fear retribution from the league if their name gets out (even if redacted) - given that both HR and the Board know of others who retracted grievances for the same reason, and that I was expelled from the league for speaking out, I can see their point. When they are either comfortable with their position in the league, or no longer with it, I’ll release my documentation to the league membership; they can do with it what they will at that point, which would probably be more effective than my blazing away in public yelling about just how bad they are; because they’re not. The league is full of good people who happened to elected a leadership who decided to abet abusive behavior, and I somehow doubt they ran for their positions on a “fuck the officials” slogan. I want to give them a chance to correct the situation.





There could be a third option, but again, it requires us to stand together, Three Musketeers style and do some work. Officials should be treated fairly - we travel all over the place and don’t get paid in order that others can play a game and get glory; we should be treated with basic respect. This is something that would help everyone, especially those who aren’t in privileged positions: I can still work games and the only thing Lefse Village is try to shun me locally; a newer official or one without my profile would be blackballed, because where else could that person go? So I’m saying we need to do this not for me, but for all the others out there who are in similar situations who can’t stand up without risking their derby careers. If we care about fairness and justice (and if not, why are you wearing that officials uniform?), we need to do something to help.





We need to create an independant roller derby officials association; for every official at every level of play, at every point in their careers. I’m not talking about ending league affiliation, but instead realizing that while the game is “for the skater by the skater”, officials also need to be “for the official”. There has also been prior attempts before which didn’t pan out; but just because they didn’t work in the past doesn’t mean the next iteration won’t. Likewise, this isn’t a repudiation of the WFTDA’s Official’s Committee - this is a whole different area, one which the WFTDA isn’t equipped to handle- it’s a void that needs filling.





Why are officials leaving roller derby? Since this whole thing started with Lefse Village, I’ve been very surprised by the number of high level, WFTDA Playoff and Championship-caliber officials, who left because of abuse at their home leagues - the home leagues are where you should feel most at ease, not less! These are people who, even if not performing at that level any more, could be helping the next generation of officials, which in turns helps the sport - but won’t or can’t, because of their league’s actions.





I’ve mentioned elsewhere that Ref-Ed would fit in very well with an independant officiating organization; if the organizers are good people with good intentions, I’d be happy to have my work on Ref-Ed be part of their organization. I’m also willing to help organize its start-up and to find leaders to run it (I’m a big fan of separating the originators from the staff of organizations). Are you willing to stand up?





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Addendum: If you are interested in such an organization, I’ve created this quick form to gather names of people interested in helping create it, or joining once formed. Click here to sign-up.







