WFTDA Seeking Participants to Test Team Name Officiating Cues
After reviewing membership feedback in the WFTDA Community discussion about Skater Call Procedures (WFTDA league rep login required), and following JRDA’s recent release of their officiating cues to utilize shortened team names, rather than jersey colors, the WFTDA is going to start a period of procedural testing from February 1 to June 15, 2026 to align with JRDA’s cues.
The WFTDA Board of Directors feels that following JRDA’s change to WFTDA Officiating procedures is necessary to minimize harm and increase access to our sport, while maintaining clarity and fairness on the track [see also: New WFTDA Officiating Clarification on Skater Numbers and Colors].
WFTDA is looking to implement the change at a date to be determined in 2026, and is asking leagues to participate in a test season to adapt JRDA’s suggested procedures with WFTDA’s own procedures.
This initiative reflects WFTDA’s commitment to:
- Minimize harm: Creating safer, more intentional practices that actively reduce harm to BIPOC skaters and increase equity for individuals with color vision deficiencies.
- Listen to membership: Prioritizing member feedback in shaping officiating practices.
- Experiment with accountability: Testing changes in real-world play before broader implementation.
- Collaborate and align with other governing bodies to better impact our sport and provide a consistent experience for skaters and officials.
Feedback from participants will be critical throughout this process. Input from skaters, officials, and leagues during the testing period will directly inform how this procedure is refined and is adopted in a way that best serves the organization and its members. Participating through the test and providing feedback on how experiencing this change impacted your experience with the sport will be essential and the best way to impact this process.
To execute this test, we are looking for the following:
- Skaters, coaches and officials to serve on the test panel. This panel will be in charge of setting up a procedure for and the individual team name cues, reviewing feedback from participating teams and officials, and working with WFTDA committees to finalize our internal procedures for assigned name cues.
- Teams and leagues willing to test these procedures over a six-month period, from February – June 2026. We ask that testers utilize the cues multiple times from scrimmages to sanctioned games over this test period in order to grow accustomed to them and to provide feedback over the test period.
If you are interested in participating in this test, either as a panelist, or a participating team or league, email Bones at memberservices@wftda.com.