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The Ann Arbor Derby Dimes need some help! We need NSOs (stats people, penalty trackers, penalty box timers, etc) and for those who love to skate and learn rules, we need refs!

So you wanna be a ref? Here's what you need to know:

Referees can be male or female. You MUST be on skates, though. Haven't been skating in a while? Don't worry, we can help with that. Do NOT let lack of mad skating skillz scare you off, you WILL build them in time, just like the derby girls.

If you want to visit a practice, let me know. It's a good way to see what it's about before you make a decision. Refs make at least two practices a week/4 hours a week to be eligible to ref a bout (bouts are what we call 'games' in derby). Our practices take place at Rollers Skate Park at Sumpter and Willis roads just south of Belleville at 19750 Sumpter Road Belleville, MI 48111-8919 - (734) 699-0023

PLEASE NOTE: If you want to come to a practice, you MUST let us know ahead of time! Our practices are closed to spectators unless you have notified us that you are coming and considering joining the league. Please ask us if you have any questions about this policy. Seriously, we love to answer questions.

Also, you will be expected to learn the rules. But where do you find them?! Easy: http://wftda.com/rules -- there are also guides for officials, including verbal cues, hand signals and everything else you need to know.

For now, we are a flat track league. We WILL be banked track, but we are in the fundraising stage at this time, so we are utilizing only the WFTDA rule set. At this time, just worry about learning those. And we do rules study each week so don't feel that you need to know the rules before you hit the track. It's a good idea to at least familiarize yourself with the basic rules, however. Plus knowing how the game is played makes watching it a whole lot more fun.

NSOs (Non-Skating Officials) in a nutshell:

• 1 jam timer - whistle signals start & end of full jam, timing 2 minutes per jam, 30 seconds between jams.
   
• 2 score trackers - One for each team, to confirm points scored for each jammer on each scoring pass with jammer refs.
   
• 3 penalty timers - One for each team and one for the jammers, times 1 minute in the penalty box for penalised skaters.
   
• 2 penalty trackers - One for each team, must have ears open at all times! Refs will report all minor & major penalties to you between jams but it helps if you listen out for your own teams penalties during a jam too.

Our practice schedule is as follows:

• Sunday 10 a.m.-12 p.m. with open skate from 12-1
• Monday 7:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m.
• Tuesday 7:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m.
• Wednesday 7:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m.

Personally, I (Misty, AKA Little Ref Riding Hood) go to Sunday and Wednesday practices. Wednesday is the night we typically scrimmage, so it's the best one IMO to come watch to get an idea of what it is derby refs do.

BUT WAIT!!! Won't I get hurt? Them derby girls is BRUTAL BEASTS. Cute, but deadly.

Being a ref is far far far less contact than being a derby girl! You will, however, get taken out, which is why we wear safety equipment. Girls get knocked out of bounds and into us from every which way, pileups happen right in front of us, sometimes we're busy watching our girl(s) we're reffing and knock into each other. I learned the fun way that jam refs pretty much get the right of way every time since they're trying to keep up with their jammer. BUT you're far less likely to get knocked down and we do a LOT of safety drills so if you do go down, you slide and jump right back up. I've gone down full force on my knees before and thanks to having good pads, I don't even feel it, even with my jacked-up knee. So if you're worried about injuries, they're less common and less 'bad' than you probably think. Be prepared for the occasional bruise. Sometimes to your ego.

If you decide to ref, here are the requirements:

MONETARY REQUIREMENTS

• Once yearly you must buy USARS insurance ($45) -- they run the calendar year so buy it now and it lasts until the end of December.
• $10 a month in dues (with your dues you become a VOTING MEMBER of the league!)

EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS

• Quad skates (you can ref on inlines for most practices, scrimmages, bouts and tournaments)
• Helmet
• Mouthguard
• Kneepads, elbow pads and wrist guards
• Whistle
• WATER BOTTLE! (mmmm hydration)

If you don't have skates and want to 'try it before you buy it' with reffing, you can always use rental skates. We have SOME limited quantity of the pads, but you will need to get your own mouthguard and helmet. We have all the info on these things in our new skater packet that you can pick up as well as what type of equipment to buy, how much it costs, etc. We also have a 'marketplace' in the league where people sell off equipment if it's the wrong size or they upgrade, etc. The goal is to keep the payout as low as possible until you know A. *IF* you want to do this and B. what brand/types of stuff you want. Talk to refs, derby girls, whomever. We all have good info on it.

Soooo, you came and watched a practice and decide YES THIS IS FOR ME and want to know the next step? Easy! Just talk to anyone on the training committee and/or the refs. Just go up to anyone and say you wanna do it and they'll point out who to talk to. We're very friendly, I promise!

Okay I've got my stuff and wanna practice but OMG WHAT DO I WEAR?! Easy. You'll want to wear something you can move in. Lots of girls wear shorts and t-shirts. Under the shorts we wear tights, sometimes with fishnets over them, and knee-high socks. You want to keep your skin covered so you don't get rink rash, which is the awesomely painful and ugly thing caused by bare-skin-sliding-across-rink. Wear workout pants! Yoga pants work great. I have a pair I love to wear but they have bell bottoms so I do the early 90s tuck-in-and-roll-up thing. Trust me, it's not a fashion show. For guys, same thing. Some guys wear cargo shorts and taller socks (to cover from the bottom of your pads to your skates) or loose-fitting pants that can roll up or that you can wear pads over. If you can move in it and your skin is covered, you're fine. You can also get an idea by watching a practice.

If you try it and decide it's not for you, there's NO PRESSURE. We'd be glad to have you in another position or even just as a fan. But seriously, what better way to hang out than to be on skates yelling at cute girls in booty shorts? ;) Plus you can pick an awesome derby ref name. What more can you ask for? :)

For more information or to join the A2D2 crew or schedule a practice visit, email recruitment@a2derbydimes.org.

River City Rollergirls referee image courtesy Flickr user Gamma Man.

EDIT: 3/1/2011 to reflect the new minimum time requirement as 4 hours.