The resurgence of modern roller derby is almost 15 years old; we’re almost eligible to get our driver’s license (in some states)! We’re excited, growing and changing, and figuring out our voice.
As we age, grow, and hit our stride, fierce discussion about how we, the Derby World, are functioning occurs across a multitude of platforms: private and public Facebook groups, the WFTDA forums, listservs, private league platforms, Derby Twitter, and more. Attempts to organize disaggregated derby communication have come and gone: Derby News Network, Derbylife, Derby Central, State of Skate and Noxtalks, The Apex, WFTDA’s comms apparatus and more.
The WCR’s league of 120+ members are plugged into many of these formal and informal threads, and Slack has become a useful platform to facilitate conversation.
We’re proud to have a variety of concerned citizens and smart cookies who work on social justice, civil liberties, restorative justice, criminal justice, nonprofit leadership, and a host of other areas that help inform our league’s leadership team, practices, and procedures. With each Major Event comes a productive internal discussion within our league.
As we consider the Major Events the Derby World is encountering (harassment and abuse, space constraints, affordability, saturated markets and bout scheduling, etc.), we frequently end up discussing what it means for our league:
- What would we do if this Major Event happened in our league?
- Do we have adequate policies in place to protect our membership and organization?
- How can we do better?
- What voices are/have been missing from these conversations?
WFTDA is the governance body for robust resource offerings around games management and skill development, and their contributions to this area have helped a common set of roller derby protocols to be adopted across the world.
It carried roller derby through our adolescence, so to speak, as the ruleset developed (lol — minors and poodling), slow derby broke everything, and then leagues reacted by innovating with strategy, footwork, and sick skills.
It’s becoming apparent that many leagues grapple with common issues and challenges beyond games management and skill development, but often remain detached from each other. How can our league crowd-source best practices in a responsive, efficient way from peers?
WFTDA is hosting an ‘anti-abuse, anti-harassment, and anti-discrimination’ town hall meeting on April 29, and maybe that meeting will be the starting point for how leagues can learn from each other.
As our community matures, perhaps a new body of resources could be gathered that address how to onboard new and transfer skaters, establish conflict management and resolution protocols, and creating safe and welcoming environments.
Most recently, WCR has been discussing our own policies around harassment and abuse, and we would like to share some brainstorming we did — here’s a list of resources that we think would be helpful to our league as we (and the Derby World) confront our community’s harassment and abuse issues.
Note: we acknowledge that our league’s needs might not be the same as leagues in communities of different sizes, geographic locations, or are comprised of other factors that impact a roller derby league’s existence.
Best Practices
- how leagues handle abuse and/or harassment (between members of the same league and members of the broader Derby World)
- how leagues structure and uphold membership requirements
- how to onboard league members so that membership requirements are understood by all
- how leagues field conflict and grievances when membership requirements are violated
- how leagues are embedding inclusivity into policies and practices
Analysis
- Sharing “bright spots” occurring across WFTDA membership, where leagues have been creative, innovative, tenacious and have solved Major Event problems; help elevate grassroots work so that we can all learn from other leagues’ (our peers) case studies.
- Acknowledging the “not-bright spots” with transparency and humility.
- What limitations do leagues face due to their nonprofit status?
- What are leagues legally liable for?
- What guardrails for practices and procedures should be in place to protect membership?
Recommendations
- how leagues can foster a safe and supportive environment so that people feel comfortable coming forward with concerns
- how to structure systems that foster open communication in all directions
- how to engage in culture change
- any trainings or information that leagues are providing to their members (perhaps WFTDA licenses training materials from experts and makes available to all leagues)
This sport is about growth as much as it’s about athleticism and feminist culture. We can only grow from what we can acknowledge, and that model must be reflected from our governance structures local through international.
What is your league doing? We’d love to learn from you.