July 31, 2012
The Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) announced today that it will publish its sixth edition of standard rules for flat track roller derby this fall. The rules will go into effect January 1, 2013.
This latest update to the rules is based on game data spanning about two years, as well as feedback from athletes, officials, and fans. Once drafted, rules changes are voted on by WFTDA member leagues.
The 2012 WFTDA Region Playoffs and Championships will be played under the current rule set, which WFTDA teams have been training and competing under since May 2010. WFTDA also plans to use the next five months to further test and finalize the new rules language, and prepare online and print publications.
“As our sport reaches the end of its first decade of play, we are in a position to be paced and strategic about implementing changes,” said WFTDA Board Member Ex-Officio Grace Killy. “We are balancing the stability of our current rule set with the need for rules updates as the game evolves. Waiting until January to implement the new rule set allows the WFTDA to make comprehensive revisions while preserving the competitive spirit of the game throughout the 2012 tournaments."
Most notably, the new rules will remove the “Minor Penalty” category of the penalty spectrum. This will mean that illegal actions are either penalized with a one-minute penalty or determined to have no game impact and, therefore, are not penalized. The WFTDA and its member leagues beta tested a draft proposal of this model during sanctioned and regulation games during 2011. After revisions, the changes were approved by a majority vote of the WFTDA membership.
The updated rules will also include other, more routine changes accepted during the rules revision process. The WFTDA Rules Committee anticipates additional reviews occurring following implementation to account for any adjustments needed due to the removal of minor penalties.
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