Be A Ref

Be A Ref

How do you join Team Zebra?

Our Skating Officials, referred to more commonly as Referees or “Team Zebra”, are a dazzling group (get it… a dazzle of zebras?? Ha Ha Ha!).

We couldn’t host or skate in bouts without them! Ideally, there are seven Referees officiating a bout. Four on the inside of the track, and Three on the outside. The inside referees include the Head Referee, Inside Pack Ref, and 2 Jam Refs (one to track/officiate for each team’s jammer… they swap which team they are tracking at halftime). Outside Pack Refs are the three who skate on the outside. The Referees have a big task to do! There’s a lot going on in the heat of a pack, so a lot of eyes are needed to make sure the rules are followed appropriately.

Like our Fresh Meat skaters, our current referee team, under the guidance of our league’s Head Ref, train our up and coming referees. They participate in our practices to some extent, learning basic skating skills, while also learning the rules extensively and how to properly call penalties during a bout. Once the Head Ref feels a trainee is ready, having passed certain skills tests and demonstrated a knowledge and understanding of the rules and procedures, they can begin officiating bouts!

Referees can gain a lot of the same benefits as our skaters such as the workout they receive skating at practices and the camaraderie of joining our derby family.