Series Intro: Lessons From The Track
Since 2013 I’ve watched people, including myself, learn a complicated performance skill without a beginning-to-end training curriculum or formal mentorship. Some people thrive. Some don’t.
I want to examine why, as this is my experience as… a roller derby official.
Yes, roller derby!
I started the week that Women’s Flat Track Association got rid of Minor Penalties. Since then I’ve officiated all over - from a warehouse in Philly, to Daytona Beach Florida, to a high school in China, and now I’m in the high desert of New Mexico. I’ve held almost every position, even a few that are no longer in usage (we will (not) miss you, inside white board).
While I work in Learning & Development, roller derby has been a place for community and challenge. More recently, perhaps because of my work with fostering so many new officials in New Mexico, I’ve been looking at this experience with an L&D lens.
Because what does derby officiating have to do with learning?
Honestly, everything.
It’s very self guided. Yes, our governing body has education resources on its website. Yes, officials can earn certification patches based on experience, peer references, and filling out an application. But there isn’t a curriculum that takes someone from “I think I want to try out one of these 10 on- or off- skates positions” to being a competent official to being an experienced official. And as anyone in L&D is probably already thinking, reading about how to perform a skill and actually performing it are very different things.
How do people learn to officiate roller derby?
I’ve been the person trying to learn the rules and learning how to apply the rules to keep games safe, fair, and fun. I’ve looked for penalties while 10 skaters are involved in a high-contact play on the track and I’m moving around two other skating officials. I’ve been adjusting when rules change. I’ve looked for people to learn from and eventually I became the one people came to as a source of information, teaching, and mentoring.
That’s what I want to explore in this series. What have I learned: while learning my skills, while doing and (hopefully) getting better, and while developing the next generation’s skills.
Obligatory engagement question: Where have you learned a complex skill without a formal curriculum, and what helped you get actually good at it? Did you get good at it?
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