Wall of Text: ECDX version

DAY ONE

Windy v. Paris (JR) - honestly this one is kind of a blur because it was the first game of the weekend.  I did receive feedback at halftime that when my jammer calls it off, I need to make my mirroring of the calling off the jam larger - I'm not just doing it for myself, it's a visual cue to everyone else around.

So I worked on that in the second half.  It took a while to get it smoothly into my routine; I was like OKAY I HAVE TO SHOW THE POINTS AND REFLECT THE HIP TAPS AND KEEP POINTING ALL AT THE SAME TIME RIGHT AWAY NOW NOW NOW NOW which is totally not what needs to be done.  Eventually I got it to "stop pointing, mirror the call off with both hands (the hand that is holding the points can be tapping with the points in hand), THEN you can put the points up."

I also was told that my penalty arm swoops can get wonky.  I don't do a proper "lower arm in a curve and swoop up" thing; I rotate my elbow and my wrist.  I feel like it borders on the dramatic at times, but I can't quite get the mechanics of a "down and up" movement right.  (Except when calling a Misconduct, because at the end of the hand signal my arm is in the perfect position to swoop down and up.)

Replacements v. St. Louis B-Keepers (PBT) - we didn't have a PBM, so the other PBT and I would take jammer timing duties depending on how busy we were.  It worked out well.  I didn't have too many penalties and handled multiple timings on one watch.

DAY TWO

Darlings of Destruction v. Philly Juniors (PBT) - all the problems that I didn't have the day before, I had in this game.  Lots of multiple timings on one watch, which would make me get behind on paperwork, which would lead me to ZOMFG I NEED TO GET ALL THE PAPERWORK ACCURATE IN ALL WAYS NOW NOW NOW NOW (notice a trend?) and I bungled some of the timings.  (Fortunately there was a wonderful junior who was shadowing because she was doing the following game who caught a timing I hadn't written down.)  I also got the advice that once I have the penalty tallies on the right side of the paperwork done to current, put a checkmark in the "team color" column of the paperwork, so I don't have to keep starting from the top to make sure my counts are accurate.

Having a CRG penalty tracking monitor right behind the box was soooo helpful as well, because I could make sure my counts were accurate without having to bug the PLT.

Queen City Juniors v. Gotham Juniors (middle OPR) - I've discovered that this is my favorite officiating position; I love the bouncing back and forth between actions.  I was complimented on my positioning by a photographer/coach whose path I've crossed several times in the past, so yay me!

Queen City vs. Windy (JR) - the first of three all female/non-binary refereeing crews in which I was involved.  This was a very hectic and coaches coming into the middle all the time looking for things game.  It was also during this game that I found myself getting tunnel vision with respect to jammer things - I'd get so caught up in watching the jammer's feet on the line to make sure they didn't cut that I wouldn't have eyes on things higher up on their bodies.  So, I took a big ol' step back to widen my scope, and that really helped.  (Fortunately the IPRs also took steps back so I didn't plow into them.)

DAY THREE

Crime City v. Santa Cruz (rear OPR) - second of the all female/NB crews.  This game was originally supposed to be my last game on Day One, but flight cancellations and whatnot led to it being the first game on Day Three (I had the first game of the day all three days; yay?)

Anyway, conversely to when I am middle OPR (and just starting to JR), I position myself reallllll close to the line in this position, so I can lean in and look for potential back blocks (once the jammers are in the pack, I back up and follow them more).  There were a few times when jammers were being chased back right on the line and there could've been a collision (one jammer was saying "excuse me excuse me excuse me" as she was coming down the line, which was totally not fun). 

Open note to any skaters who are reading this: When returning to the track, whether it's from the penalty box or after being blocked out of bounds, please skate behind the officials.  If we're concentrating on the action, we may not be aware of your presence until you're zooming in front of us, and if we take that moment to step forward, things could get ugly.

It was also during this game that the ingrown toenail that I'd developed (goddamn skates are getting chucked in the river) started giving me grief.  I bought some gel toe pads and hoped for the best.

Wall Street Traitors v. Texas Chainsaws (JR) - a good game to JR; totally different beast than the other games I'd refereed so far, based on the skill of the skaters and whatnot.  Toe was meh at best. 

Philly v. Rainy City (front OPR) - third of the all female/NB crews.  Took front because the general consensus was that of the three of us, I was the fastest backwards skater (I KNOW, RIGHT?) Did two-footed backwards crossovers and didn't die, although because my trucks were looser than I like (goddamn skates are getting chucked in the river) I was constantly worried I was going to fall.  Kept a good distance from the front of the pack a vast majority of the time, so I was very proud of that.

my updates are few and far between

I ordered my boots about two and a half weeks ago, yay!  I can't wait to see how they turned out.

ECDX is this weekend; have a bunch of D1 games and JRing a few of them NO PRESSURE AT ALL