Lesson #8: Outside pack referees¶

by Stephen Lorimor / Axis of Stevil

Last updated: May 22, 2018

Duties¶

(priority) Call penalties on actions easily missed by or difficult to see from the inside
- Cutting the track
- Blocking with elbows, forearms, hands
- Back blocks when the skater is angled to face the inside of the track
- Illegal position (skating out of bounds)
- Illegal contact (out of bounds blocking)
- Illegal contact (out of play blocking) during no pack situations
- Star pass violations and pass interference
- High blocks near the inside line
- Illegal re-entry from the penalty box
- Skaters taking an illegal route to the penalty box
- False start warnings and failure to yield penalties if they fail to yield
Communicate to the refs on the inside of the track
- Nod to indicate a skater avoided an illegal action
- No earned pass hand signal to indicate a pass was neither legal nor a penalty
- Tap helmet to indicate a jam is being called off
Miscellaneous duties that might otherwise distract the inside staff
- Check on potentially injured skaters in or near the outside of the track
- Removing debris from the track
- Looking for and enforcing instructions from the penalty box manager

When a skater does not hear your call, follow these steps:
- Chase them down on the outside and repeat the call. This overrides your normal coverage.
  This may involve skating clockwise around the track to meet a counterclockwise moving jammer.
- Communicate the penalty to the inside referees.
- Communicate the penalty to another OPR in better position to make the call
- (Last resort) Skate to the inside and call the penalty from there
Focus heavily on jammer interaction as the jammer comes through your coverage area
Listen for calls from other referees
- Two referees calling out the same penalty is redundant; one can remained focused on the game
OPRs rarely define the pack or issue out of play warnings, but sometimes it is necessary

Accelerate before the pack reaches your position.
Accelerate into turns to avoid falling behind the pack
Always be aware of the location of the other OPRs
“Leapfrog” (ie; pass and assume their position) other officials as necessary.
Watch for skaters (team staff, audience members, etc.) in the outside safety lane

Fluid half-lap - The rear OPR falls back from turns 2 and 4 to turns 1 and 3.
- This works in reverse if the pack is sprinting clockwise (rare)
Sectional - Three refs on the pack at all times. Used for slow packs. Shift to fluid if it speeds up.

Both refs on the pack, but as a ref falls behind they fall back until the pack catches up