WFTDA seeks skater feedback on officiating certification survey

WFTDA pushed a skater-focused survey on officiating certification as a follow-up to an earlier forum survey that drew strong participation from officials but far less from skaters. The association said certification was built in the first place from skater feedback, with the goal of giving teams confidence that officials traveling to postseason tournaments met a consistent standard for that level of play.

That matters because certification is not just paperwork inside WFTDA. Its Roller Derby Certification Program for Officials covers training and recognition for all flat track roller derby officials, and the process runs through online learning and a test. The review side is just as important: WFTDA’s certification guidance says packet preparation includes collecting evaluations and overviews in an official’s record, and higher-level head officials are expected to complete evaluations for their crews in WFTDA-sanctioned games and tournaments within three months of the event.

The survey sits inside a larger governance push. WFTDA said the questionnaire was designed to better align with the ART Project Report and with the requests the Certification Program for Officials has been tasked with. The organization’s certification materials also make clear that this is not a one-page form tucked away on the side. WFTDA maintains a certification FAQ, a learning guide, review-and-timing guidance, and a roster of certified officials, all of which point to a formal pipeline rather than an ad hoc badge system.

WFTDA’s own forum activity shows the issue has stayed live. The Board of Directors and the Officiating Pillar launched a certification survey to understand how certification is used in officiating and how people want to use it, and the community discussion acknowledged that skater input had not come through in the earlier round. Separate 2025 certification-data discussion posts and officials certification office hours that started in October 2024 show the association is still working through how the program should function in practice, not just in principle.

For skaters, coaches and officials, the practical question is whether the people most affected by calls and standards have a real hand in shaping them. In a volunteer-heavy sport where referees, inside pack officials and tournament crews can change the feel of a bout from one weekend to the next, consistency is the product. WFTDA’s latest survey suggests the organization knows that trust in certification has to be built by the people who skate under it, not only by the people who enforce it.