It’s a new year. Resolutions are being kept or broken. Meanwhile derby is back up and running after a brief holiday break. Until there is a consensus on when seasons begin or end, derby will most likely be separated by calendar years. So for this new year RDIT wanted to share what we are looking forward to in 2012.
Caesar
No minors. I’m gonna bet five bucks (this does not reflect my confidence, but my poverty) that no minors easily passes and is installed, and that by summer WFTDA sanctioned games (and by extension, a vast majority of all games) will be played under a new rule set that eliminates minor penalties. This will be the greatest improvement in the sport since it was invented.
Quad Almighty
I started thinking about this and realized that, where derby is concerned, I spend TOO MUCH time thinking down the road.
I’m always thinking about how this win/loss affects our ranking/seeding/juxtaposition down the road with teams A, B, or C in tournament X so that once we get to Regionals we are lined up to play team Y on Friday, which will give us the best opportunity to finish in [?] place, etc. I watch derby and think about how Watertown matches up against Stickburg who demolished Fence City and how does that affect our ranking? I’m always concerning myself with rule changes, rankings, regions, divisions, strategy innovations… I worry so much about the future of the sport that I forget to actually enjoy the sport RIGHT NOW.
I think that much stress and burn-out comes from this filtering of the present through the future. I’m fixing that in 2012. I’m going to celebrate more derby. In 2012, I am going to be more present. I’m going to enjoy the wins, and learn from losses. I’m going to give today more of my energy. I’m going to make “fun” and “rewarding” the keywords of my 2012.
Don’t Hate. Celebrate. 2012.
Tank
Changing the Rankings. Rumors have been flying around for the past year that WFTDA will be changing how they do their regional rankings in some way, shape, or form. While nothing is concrete in terms of a plan or time line almost anything has to be better than the current system which allows for very few surprises in tournament play and currently doesn’t do much to encourage teams to play in their own region minus the 2 games they have to to qualify for their regional tournament. Ideally I would like to see some type of European Futbol club style rankings emerge where teams could go up and down tiers depending on how a team performs season to season and would make the current unofficial model of teams playing other teams who are close to them in skill, regardless of region, official.
deadeye
I’m claiming 2012 as the Year of the NSO (a la Marvin the Martian). Being an NSO is not just for injured skaters and derby widows. This is becoming more clear as the role of Tournament Head NSO and Crew Head NSO takes hold more and more. It’s become a big part of WFTDA clinics and more referees and skaters are part timing it as NSOs. But most importantly, there are just so many dedicated NSOs who are traveling more widely, doing crew exchanges, and creating new standards than ever.
So my hope is that 2012 is a tipping point for the Non-Skating Official, even if Caesar is correct and No Minors puts most of us out of a job.
What are you looking forward to in 2012?
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