Big Boss Flamingo: How To Be Head NSO

Sexy flamingo costume!  Yeah!

This won’t be a definitive post, because this only happened to me before Christmas.  Plus although I know all the positions and have experience in all but the Scoreboard, there weren’t really any other nominees for the job!   So just the basics, but very good basics nonetheless :)

As usual I found myself chucked in the deep end when DRR entered the 2015 British Championships, and also decided to have a two-game event made of a UKRDA sanctioned game against Bedfordshire Rebellion and then a crazy Hunger Games themed charity game where the audience paid to help or hinder a team (making them skate the jam backwards, having a race between the jammers to get extra points, freeing penalised skaters from the box early etc.)  It was a fantastic event and we raised £225 from the charity game.

And my first public event as HNSO? ...

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.

Excuse me, may I borrow your flamingo? - GYSD & The One Stopwatch method

This weekend I hoofed it up to Leeds to NSO at the Great Yorkshire Showdown 2014!  This is a full day tournament where 6 teams from throughout Yorkshire battle it out in single period games.  The winner gets bumped up to the next round until, in the eighth and final contest, a full length game between the two remaining teams.  Fun day out?  Eight live roller derby games in a row?  Getting my NSO on?  Sign me up!

Flamingo takes off! - NSOing done right

Whew, what a weekend!  It's been heavy on the NSO side of things, but all in very good ways.  I feel like I've graduated into NSO-dom or something.

On Saturday my fellow Dolly Newbie and NSO compadre Quillotine hoofed it down to Cambridge (despite GoogleMaps' attempt to make it otherwise) to help out as a double-header between the Rockabillies and Granite City, and then a B team game between Cambridge and Suffolk.  They were short a few positions so she hopped on as a Scorekeeper and I took care of the Inside Whiteboard.

What was extra nice is that Quill and I were the two candidates for Deputy HNSO with the Dollies (she won, and I am the Deputy's Deputy :D), so the fact that we were travelling two hours together to help out another team made a lot of sense.  It was like a Derby Officiating lovefest!

Fledgling Flamingo discovers the importance of paperwork - Penalty Tracking + HNSO

Last weekend I NSO-ed at my first ever away game down in Bedford!  It was also my first ever time Penalty Tracking, and boy was it a baptism by fire...

Here I am, concentrating hard...

Baby Flamingo does a Dance! - Penalty Tracking

For an upcoming game our team needed a Penalty Wrangler and Tracker, and since we didn't have a volunteer I've gone in for some re-training!  The main thing is learning the hand signals and codes (letters) for each of the penalties a referee might give, so that you can recognise them from a distance and write them down.

When running through them all I couldn't help noticing that they form a lovely 90's style dance, so I had a go at putting them all together.  My friend suggested the perfect song!  This took about four takes to get right :P

Baby flamingo acquires whistle! - Jam Timing

I had to use this picture.  I had to. She's so classy 

I've been having a go at Jam Timing.  Our NSO-organiser-person is good enough to let us have a go at any new NSO skills we want to, so since I feel like I've got the hang of the Penalty Box I've been trying some new things.

Scorekeeping was my last one, but with our usual Jam Timer absent it seemed like a good time to don the stopwatch and whistle and have a go at bossing around every single senior skater I know, most of whom I am still in Newbie Awe of.

Oh dear me...

Baby flamingo acquires clipboard - Scorekeeping

Fun news.  The advanced level Dollies practise tonight included some special guests.  We had the most excellent Judge Fredd reffing with our skating officials, and also a visiting reporter from a local radio station.  Fun times all round!  We also managed to get a full contingent of skaters, which meant we could do proper scrims rather than directed ones (which are still useful, but less fun for me to watch!)  We also had loads of people to take turns refereeing and NSO-ing.  I've been manning the penalty box for the past few weeks, but after our recent lesson on Scorekeeping and Line-up tracking I really wanted to have a go with some paperwork.  This was the perfect time!

How not skating can make you skate better - NSOing

The flamingos are relevant.  I promise...

Our two hours of weekly training has been extended to three.  Somehow I managed not to be aware that this was going to happen, although I'm sure somebody must have mentioned it at some point.  At any rate, it makes little difference to me as the fact that I go to church (fortunately in the late afternoon!) means I cannot stay for this extra hour and probably won't be able to for most of the year (the exception being summer when the church times will change to account for the lack of students).

Right now this extra hour is being used for 'Derby Brain', where we learn the rules and strategy of the game.  This is kind of important stuff, and I need to learn it, so I have come up with a Cunning Plan.