WFTDA Announces Suspension of WFTDA Officiating Certification Program Starting June 1

The Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) will temporarily close its officiating certification system on June 1 to focus exclusively on the transition to the new, unified certification system with the Men’s Roller Derby Association. The WFTDA and MRDA have set a goal to complete the restructure of the program by early to mid 2017.

• No Certification reviews will take place during this period to allow the committee to wrap up work from the current program and to focus exclusively on creating a program restructure, as well as developing new processes that fit the needs of the WFTDA’s and MRDA’s membership.
• All current WFTDA Officiating Certifications and Endorsements are frozen as of May 1 unless an official is reviewed during the May Certification review cycle.
• Freezing Certification and Endorsements as of May 1 also ensures that any officials applying for 2016 WFTDA Playoffs will not be affected by the shutdown.
• Certification will no longer accept appeals after May 31, with the exception of applicants from the May review cycle. The deadline for those appeals will be June 10.
• Expiring certifications during the shutdown will be extended with a reasonable timeframe in which to re-apply using the new system. Any expired certifications and deadlines to apply using the new system due to this service stoppage will be considered and communicated.
• Game evaluations will still be collected for all games played during the shutdown period.
• No Certification tests (written or skating assessments) will be collected during this time. Expiration of tests taken just prior to the close of certification will be taken into account in the new system.

We appreciate the support and patience of those who have planned for their certification renewals, advancements, and achievements in 2016. Our system needs to be completely restructured to ensure that we are meeting the goals of the WFTDA, MRDA, and our officials seeking certification. The WFTDA and MRDA Officials Certification team is working hard to create this new system and will be providing updates throughout the year on progress. If officials have any questions during this time please contact nsocert@wftda.com or refcert@wftda.com.