The Role of the Alternate on the Bench

In roller derby a coach has many responsibilities on the bench. Lineups must be called, jammers need to receive instructions during jams, and skaters need to be coached up on the things they are doing on the track. Most teams have two bench staff that are tasked with these and other responsibilities during each game. The roles and their divisions are different depending on who you talk to. What I would really like to focus on in this post is the role of the alternate in roller derby.

Obviously wearing the A gives someone certain rights and powers during a game. Basically they are the same as those of the Captain. The main difference is that in most cases the person wearing the A is not a skater playing in that game, they are one of the bench staff. (I have seen skaters wear the A but I think it is a terrible idea to do for reasons I will specify below.)

WFTDA rules dictate that the alternate (A) has the ability to call time outs and call for official reviews. These are vital things when it comes to a game (really in all sports that have those two things). I mentioned that I feel like a skating alternate is a terrible idea and this opinion revolves completely around focus. Generally a captain is going to be a skater that plays a lot. Oftentimes they are even one of the "go to" athletes when it comes to crunch time. You would not want that person to have to be focused on clock management while on the track. At the same time, a captain may never even see a potential incorrect penalty call because they are focused on what they are doing on the track. This is where the alternate needs to come in. They are the eyes on the track at all times and should have a much better opportunity to watch things like the clock and referee calls.

On your bench, ideally, your alternate is going to be the person who has eyes on the track at all times. In the past I myself have taken on multiple roles on the bench at once including calling lineups, coaching jammers, as well as wearing the A. To be honest it was not the most effective situation for me to be in. Oftentimes I would be in the process of calling the next line and miss a penalty on the track or look up to find that my jammer was out of the pack but not lead and had no idea why not. It was always a terrible feeling having to take my eyes off the track. Now with our travel team I have a designated bench manager that holds down lineups so I can focus on the game. This has allowed me to become a much more calm and effective bench coach. I am able to approach my official reviews with all the information possible and I am able to manage the clock with precision because I can focus on it between jams.

Moral of this blog is, put everyone involved in the most effective possible position they can be in. The A isn't about ego. The A is about management. There are really only two reasons I could see putting it on a skater. 1) The bench coach is very green and doesn't know the game or rules very well.
2) The skater wearing it just wants to have the legal right to argue with officials and say, "Look I am the alternate!" (Check your ego, you will win more games.)

I will cover that sticky subject of how to approach an official review in another blog.