Season 22
  1. Taking Space: An Arizona Roller Derby Retrospective
  2. Save the Date: Travel Team Tryouts 2025
  3. Monsoon Madness 2024 – August 30-September 1
  4. WFTDA North America – West Region Champs – June 14-16, 2024
  5. Cactus Cup 2023 – July 21-23 in Mesa, AZ

Non-Skating Officials (NSO)

What are the benefits of being an NSO?

You can get involved in the action even if you don’t skate. If you love rules, whistles and clipboards, being a Non-skating Official is for you. If you want to support your friends/family in derby, being a Non-skating Official is for you. If you want to be part of a community that supports girls, women and queer skaters in competitive sports, being a Non-skating Official is for you.

NSOs are the backbone of any officials crew.  As the name implies, NSOs take on the officiating positions that don’t involve being on-skates.  NSOs fill multiple positions within a game or scrimmage and are staffed by volunteers.

  • Being a part of bouts: NSOs perform vital roles for bouts, and the Rose City Rollers have one of the best NSOs crews in the country.
  • Being a part of world-class derby every week:  NSOs practice and train every Wednesday and Saturday during Rose City league scrimmage, which means that you’ll be seeing home teams and travel team play against each other.
  • Learning about derby: Whether you’re a skater or a devoted fan, there’s no better way to learn the game and the rules of roller derby than being a part of the officials crew.
  • No experience needed:  No skating skills are required, and no gear is necessary.
  • What will I be doing as an NSO?

A few examples of the positions that NSOs run during a game:

  • Scorekeepers: Work with the jammer refs to keep score.  Since the team with the most points wins the game, this is a very important position.
  • Scoreboard Operator: During games and scrimmages, runs the scoreboard software, inputting data from Scorekeepers to keep the fans engaged!
  • Penalty/Lineup Trackers: Track all the skaters in each lineup. Responsible for keeping track of penalties.  They stand in the center of the track.
  • Penalty Box Timers:  Skaters who receive penalties have to serve time in the penalty box.  Penalty box timers stand behind the penalty box and ensure skaters serve the proper time.
  • Jam Timer:  Start each jam and period with a whistle blast.  Requires purchase of a Fox 40 whistle.  They stand in the center of the track.

If you have more questions, would like to learn more, or maybe come out to a practice and get an in-person overview, we would love to hear from you! 

Email us at officials@arizonarollerderby.com