WOMEN’S FLAT TRACK ROLLER DERBY MAGAZINE ISSUE 30, WINTER 2015
proud partner of the WFTDA
fiveonfivemag.com
fiveonfive contents 34-35
4-5 advice ask ms d’fiant and suzy hotrod!
WFTDA After years of planning, the WFTDA and JFTDA form an official relationship to help foster the sport at all levels.
6-9 business bylaws: how to begin the process selecting a merchandise vendor
10-15 16-26
Joe Mac
health and fitness high tech fitness shoulder injury/rehab
games and coaching 2015 WFTDA championships recap the three c’s of feedback how to use the cup matrix
42-43 why officiate? Standard Steviation reaches out to roller derby officials from around the globe to find out what motivates them to don the stripes.
30-33 gear tools, part two
38-39
junior derby how to start a junior league
48-49 team structure
40-41 rookie 42-45
officiating why officiate? transitioning from skater to official
54-57 international derby 58-59 art and media
Brangwyn “GI Jones” Photography
focus on fresh meat
Leagues across the country and around the world embrace various structures – home teams, A/B teams, and combinations of the two. There are many factors to consider before you determine which team structure is right for your league.
selecting a merchandise vendor B O B N O X I O U S, M A D R O L L I N D O L L S, B R O W N P A P E R T I C K E T S
Whenever someone tells me that there’s no money in merchandise, I want to scream. Merchandise programs can become your league’s greatest return on investment, especially once your merchandise program is established. there is money in merchandise Two examples that speak to the value of merchandise sales: • Bands make their name on the road. Most will tell you it is merchandise sales, not a cut of the door sales, that support their ramen-noodle habit and van. • My son loved watching the monster truck TV series, “Monster Jam.” One episode, Dennis Anderson, owner of the iconic Grave Digger, made a prolific statement about merchandise sales. In his early years, he ran the truck until it was wrecked, “to get the most out of merchandise sales.” That’s right, he traveled the country destroying expensive trucks to boost merch sales. Roller derby merch has the same potential. Though there are many types of merchandise you can sell, clothing will draw your greatest sales and profit. T-shirts are critical to any merch program. They are relatively inexpensive to make and can generate a strong profit. Your relationship with your clothing producer is a critical one that’s reliant on trust, so be choosy when it comes to your vendor. choose vendors wisely The three factors to be aware of when choosing a vendor are reliability, the cost of goods, and the quality of their work. Too often, leagues have merch problems from making a poor choice of vendors. Many leagues are offered great deals from startup print shops, a leaguemate’s friend, or even someone within the league. What could possibly go wrong? reliability You get a great deal. At first, your orders may not have time sensitivity. Especially if it’s off-season or the league is in early stages. But when you need inventory by a certain date and it doesn’t show up, it’s a big problem.
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If you are out of sizes or styles, those are lost sales. How could this happen? More than likely, they’ve offered this same killer deal (undercutting the price of other printers) to a number of others. The print shop is looking to build its clientele. The general concept of creating printed t-shirts is not difficult, but bulk printing is. Problems arise when the printer takes on more work than they have staff, equipment or time. For some shops, it isn’t a full-time business; it’s a hobby. how to sniff out an unreliable vendor Ask to tour their shop prior to committing your business. If they keep stalling, they don’t have a shop. They have limited equipment (potentially homemade) in a corner of a basement or garage. One or two screen presses won’t keep you stocked, especially once there are other customers. If they made their own screen printers (fairly easy), the turnaround time on each piece will be a killer. If a tour of the shop shows you professional equipment for creating screens, printing bulk shirts, advanced drying equipment, heat presses, CAD cutters (printers that cut a vinyl material) and the like, you’re working with professionals. Don’t be afraid to look into larger companies. When I had my own t-shirt company, all of my screen printing was done by a large facility contracted by the likes of Nike and Reebok. Yes, my orders were squeezed between large corporate ones, but done with consistent quality, available as promised and often less expensive than if done in smaller shops. Remember, league money needs to be held tightly. Spend it cautiously, especially early on and know that every dollar spent needs to earn more dollars. Choosing the right shirt printer is a vital first step.
Remember, league money needs to be held tightly. Spend it cautiously, especially early on and know that every dollar spent needs to earn more dollars. Choosing the right shirt printer is a vital first step. what’s a “good” deal? There are two ways to maximize the contributions of your merch program – find the right selling price and keep costs low. Your goal is to make quality merch at the lowest price possible. Clothing printers will provide you with shirts and do the printing. They buy the t-shirts at wholesale prices and mark the price up. If you’re told blank t-shirts are $4, work on driving that price down. Let me arm you with reality. A quality, men’s black tee, at wholesale price, is no more than $2.50. It’s also not uncommon for wholesalers to run specials for under $2. My goal was to create a final product for $6 maximum and sell at $15, which is an acceptable price for fans. For my own company, however, I bought shirts at wholesale and either applied the print myself or sent them to my screen printer to use. Some printers will not allow this, some will – they have to make money too. But if your single color tees are running $8 to make, force them to bargain or walk away. You hold the cards in this decision. Don’t let them pressure you into a cost that is too high.
hand clearly through the cotton, don’t use them. It indicates poor quality. The shirt will shrink drastically and the print will chip in a short period of time. As you will learn, start easy with safe bets on merch and slowly build as the demand rises. Begin with t-shirts only; one or two styles with a decent stock of sizes. Upcoming blog posts will explain building an inventory plan, projecting merch needs and the kinds of merchandise that are risky or not worth the return.H See more of Bob’s business blog series at community.brownpapertickets.com/wp/category/roller-derby.
how to test merchandise quality T-shirts don’t have to be anything special, but they should be quality. Gildan is just one example, but a very popular choice for good reason. Gildan is popular because it’s a reasonable product for the quality. They make a sturdy 5.1 oz. cotton tee and provide them in men’s, women’s, and children sizes. When choosing a t-shirt vendor, ask for a sample. Put your hand inside the shirt. If you can see your
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team structure P U N C H Y O ' G U T S, R E S U R G A M R O L L E R D E R B Y
When modern roller derby leagues began, they created home teams because it was the only way a game could happen. There were very few leagues and they were spread across the U.S. Having home teams ensured the precious game time and experience every skater sought. As more cities and towns birthed derby leagues, there was less of a need for home teams because, just a couple hours away, there was another team to play. A team didn’t have to play another team on their league in order to get game time. Some leagues, in addition to having home teams, added A/B teams. Some leagues dissolved their home teams and moved to the A/B structure. Other leagues began their league with an A-team and added a B-team as the league grew. Today, you’ll find leagues structured in various ways for various reasons. Home teams are intraleague teams that play each other within a home season. They train separately and develop their own strategies and plays. Each team consists of skaters at various skill levels, with captains and coaches who lead each team. Players are drafted from a pool of skaters who pass the minimum skills requirement as determined by the league. Most leagues with home teams have at least three home teams, so each team has more than one other team to play. While many skaters view themselves as competitive players, home teams are typically the least competitive team on a league. This is because new skaters are immediately drafted to a team, rather than trying out, and most home teams allow for equal playtime. Advantages: This structure offers all skaters, regardless of skill level, an opportunity to belong to a team and play games. It offers an opportunity for a young skater to earn the experience needed for a more competitive team and a home for skaters who are not interested in traveling and/or high-level competition. Also, having home teams can build a larger fan base for your league, as locals build loyalty with a team.
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Disadvantages: Home teams can be a costly endeavor for a league because they require significant resources. You need money to afford team practices for each team. You need the resources to host several home games within a season, and you need strong branding and marketing to establish and build a local fan base for each team. An A-Team is comprised of the league’s most skilled players and plays home and away games. The team consists of up to twenty skaters, fourteen of whom can be rostered for a game. To be eligible for team placement, a skater must consistently demonstrate a set of skills and qualities predetermined by the team. A try-out is held to determine membership. Captains and coaches choose who is placed on a roster and how much playtime each skater is allotted. Their decision is usually based on a predetermined set of qualities (skill, attendance, attitude) and the unique collection of skaters needed to secure a win (specific type and amount of jammers or blockers that stack up well against the competition). Advantages: The existance of an A-team creates a hierarchal system in which skill and dedication are rewarded with game play. It also develops healthy competition among skaters. This model is widely used in amateur and professional sports, so it’s easier to research information about the structure. Disadvantages: The A-team model can feel exclusionary to young skaters who are developing their skills. Because of a subjective or seemingly subjective path from new skater to team member, some skaters develop a feeling of entitlement, asserting that they’ve earned their spot on the team and have been purposefully denied it.
Brangwyn “GI Jones” Photography
The B-team operates similarly to the A-team, but on a less competitive scale. It is the league’s JV team and consists of skaters who have passed minimum skills. Some leagues immediately place a skater on the B-team after they’ve passed, and some require skaters to try-out for the team. Advantages: The B-team is a home for skaters with various goals. It can serve as a place for new skaters to acquire the experience and knowledge needed be considered for the A-team, and it’s a home for skaters who don’t want to compete at a higher level. Additionally, it adds to the hierarchal system to foster healthy competition within the league. Disadvantages: Without constant, clear communication about how the hierarchal system works, the league can fall into unhealthy competition, which can lead to entitlement, which can lead to league drama. When choosing a team structure, a league should consider its mission and purpose. How many teams do you need to provide playing opportunities for all your skaters?
What level of competitiveness should each team operate at? Do you need to provide teams with various levels of competitiveness in order to retain skaters? Aside from answering those questions, the size of the league impacts the success rate of a team structure. Assuming a healthy team consists of 12-20 skaters, leagues with 10-20 consistent skaters would house only an A-team. Leagues with 21-30 skaters would support the A/B team structure. Leagues with 31-40 would extend the A/B structure to include a C team, which functions the same as the B-team, but at a lower competitive scale. Leagues with more than forty players could incorporate a structure that houses A/B teams and home teams. This, of course, isn’t a system that’s strictly adhered to. You can have a league of thirty skaters and create three home teams. It’s risky and definitely not ideal, but you can play a season with ten skaters per team. It’s all about finding what works for your league. Skaters always seem to find a way to make the impossible happen, don’t they?!H
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