Weirdness in the box - Penalty Box Manager

Sooooo last weekend's roadtrip was to my home county of Norfolk.  Unlike most of the NSOs I got to combine my derby day with a visit to the parents.  If only I'd know we had a roller derby team there a few years earlier, this could all have been a very different story...

The Norfolk Brawds were hosting a 3 game event; a cherry popper, followed by a male-male game, followed by a female-female game, so lots of variety and a nice big crowd.  I was only really needed for the first game and, due to a last minute swapsies with my friend Drew I ended up managing the penalty box for the first time ever.  I knew the theory at least, but had never done it in practise.

"It'll be fine!" they said.  "You won't have two jammers in at once!" they said.  "The box will never be full, refs are lenient in a cherry popper!" they said.

Ha. Ha. Ha.

Naturally all of these things happened multiple times during the first few jams, but actually I was really pleased with how on the ball I was.  The theory turned into practise without a hitch and I knew what I was doing all the time.  Even with two new timers to worry about, I handled everything, even timing a third blocker on behalf of one of my timers while still timing my own jammer.  Here's what I learned...

Box Manager

The main difference between a Penalty Box Timer and the Penalty Box Manager is whose penalties they are timing.  Timers look after the blockers (and pivots), and can time up to three people at once using the Once Stopwatch method.  However my timers were new (very new. They were literally learning on the job, but to their credit both kept their heads and picked it up very quickly) so they had a stopwatch for each of their two chairs and I decided we'd cross that bridge of a third blocker when we came to it.

The Box Manager times the jammer's penalties, which is either nice and simple or VERY NOT SIMPLE AT ALL.

Level 1

A jammer entering the box behaves like a blocker, except that she sits in the chair marked 'J'.  She serves 30 seconds like a blocker does, after 20 seconds she stands, and after 30 seconds you let her go.  The complication comes if you then have Jammer B sent to the box while Jammer A is still in there.  Jammer B then doesn't have to serve a full 30s seconds, she only has to be in the box for the same length of time Jammer A was.  So if Jammer B sits down as Jammer A's stopwatch reaches 19 seconds, Jammer B will only serve a 19 second penalty.

The way you handle this is you'll have a stopwatch in each hand.  The moment Jammer B's bum hits the seat, you press the Start/Stop button on both stopwatches.  This pauses Jammer A's, letting you read off the time (I like to leave it there until both jammers are done in case I forget the number), and starting Jammer B's.  

Additionally, as soon as Jammer B is seated, Jammer A can leave.  She doesn't have to stand in the box and wait an extra 10 seconds, she can go immediately.  So as you press your stopwatch buttons, announce "Jammer A, Stand and Done."  Hopefully she'll sprint off and you've now got one jammer to mind again.  Jammer B will stand at 9 seconds, and be told "Done" at 19 seconds.

Level 2

New scenario.  Jammer A is sent to the box, after 19 seconds Jammer B is also sent to the box so we let Jammer A go BUT she re-enters the track illegally, receives a second penalty and comes back to the box while Jammer B is still there.  What do we do?

We keep her there for a full 30 seconds, alongside Jammer B who is still serving her own 19 seconds.

Why?

Jammer penalties operate in pairs.  I like to think about it as trying to collect a set of 2 matching times, like playing Snap.  Every penalty a jammer receives is potentially the start of a pair, but most of the time that pair is never completed because the second jammer doesn't get sent off while the first is still in the box.

As soon as you simultaneously have both jammers in the box - Hooray! You've completed a pair!  Let the first one go and start over.  Whatever happens next, whenever your next jammer comes back to the box, you start trying to make a new pair.  You never make a trio.

This scenario can make things very awkward, because the jam will still be running but there are no jammers on track.  I kid you not, this happened to a referee friend of mine during the final jam of a game. Jammer A, then B, got sent to the box, then Jammer A had to go back a second time.  And sit there.  And watch the period clock tick down.  With the blockers.  And the audience.  And it was incredibly awkward for everybody but it was the right thing to do.  Them's the rules!

Here I am, timing simultaneous jammers like a boss.  The White Jammer arrived during a jam interval.  You can see Blue Jammer getting ready to 'Stand and Done' as soon as the next jam begins. Eager beaver :)

Level 3

Since there are more blockers, ergo they do get sent off more often than jammers, the Manager has the most free time on their hands so it's made good use of by having them manage the box (clue's in the name!) for the benefit of the two Timers.  Any weirdness in the box is the Manager's job to deal with.  Some Head Refs will empower the Box Manager to give out their own penalties.  You will have a whiteboard to write down the number of any skater who breaks box rules. This is your hotline to the referees.  Put a circle round the number and hold the board in the air between jams so a referee can see it, and they will award that penalty for you and send that skater back to the box to serve it.  Don't forget to communicate the penalty to the Penalty Tracking team as soon as you can.  Either use the whiteboard, or send a runner between jams.

• A skater must enter the box safely and come to a controlled stop inside it for the safety of those already there.  A little chair shuffling is expected as they sit, but if their landing shunts it back severely, or you need to grab a chair to stop it falling or taking out a player or NSO, that's a penalty-worthy offence.
• Once seated, a skater may adjust their kit but must not remove anything except their mouthguard.  All kit must be secure before they stand up again.
• Skaters must not attempt to start fights, verbal or physical, with the opposing team or any officials.  Repeated bad language, and any threats, violence, or disobedience to NSOs and refs in particular can get you expelled from the game.  Quite right too.  In the rare event it happens, inform a referee ASAP.
• Coaches and Bench Managers can pass short comments with their own players in the box, and give them water etc, but may not enter the box themselves.  Boxed skaters also miss out on Team Timeouts, although they may leave during the half time interval.  Use the whiteboard to get them back before the second period starts.
• When standing to leave the box skaters must stand upright.  Some may hunch into derby stance but if they start crouching for a run or sprint out of the box, stop their stopwatch.  Say "Skater number, timing postponed. Please stand up straight."  Once they do, tell them "Timing resumed."
• When a game ends, the scoreboard goes into 'Unofficial Final' mode while the score is checked by the refs and NSOs.  Any skaters in the box have to stay there until it becomes 'Official Final'.

Bonus Features:

• If an incoming skater overshoots the box and goes past the point of no return, they have to lap the track and attempt the entry again.  Tell them "Skater Number, Skate Round" while drawing a shape like a flat circular plate in the air with your finger.
• If the box is full, with the relevant timer already timing two seated blockers (remember you could seat a third behind one who was standing) the skater has to wait for a space.  Tell them "Skater Number, You're in the queue." and point them back to track.  They can return to play until we have a spare seat for them.  Use the whiteboard to record their number and have them called back between jams.