Question:

Who receives penalties when multiple players are involved in an illegal block outside the engagement zone?

Answer:

Penalties are assigned to all out of play Blockers involved in an illegal action.

Question:

When is a major penalty in effect, at the time the referee calls it, or when the penalized skater becomes aware of it?

Answer:

A penalty is in effect at the time that the penalty is enforced. The penalized player is “in the box” when the referee directs her off the track.

Question:

Should the penalty for “flipping the bird” be one minute in the box or an automatic ejection? Secondly, if WFTDA leaves us the freedom to decide, should this issue be decided by the league’s democratic process, or should the policy be decided by the refs only?

Answer:

“Flipping the bird,” or any other disrespectful gesture or expression by a skater directed toward a Referee or Official is grounds for automatic expulsion, according to precedent set forth in WFTDA interleague and tournament protocols. The same action by an opponent directed toward another skater is generally not penalized. Most WFTDA leagues follow this protocol, but the WFTDA does not interfere with the way individual member leagues govern Gross Misconduct of this nature in intraleague bouts. The WFTDA believes that the democratic process is the best model for success.

Question:

If a skater’s hips are ahead of a Blocker’s hips when that Blocker knocks her out of bounds, is that skater still eligible to be penalized for cutting the track if she returns to play in front of that Blocker?

Answer:

Yes, she is still eligible to receive penalties for cutting the track. Players must re-enter the track behind the player who forced them out of bounds, regardless of hip position and regardless of who was originally in front. The in bounds player successfully put the out of bounds player at a disadvantage by legally knocking her out of bounds and out of play and the out of bounds player cannot negate that advantage.

Question:

If there is an illegal star pass, who is given the major penalty: the original Jammer, or the original Pivot?

Answer:

The initiator of the illegal star pass receives the major penalty.

Question:
If a Jammer passes a Blocker but does not score upon her, and then that Blocker is sent off or leaves the jam, does the Jammer still accrue that point when she scores her first point of the scoring pass?

Answer:
Yes, Jammers receive “ghost points” any time the opportunity to earn a point by legally passing (or re-passing) is taken away. This is consistent with the overriding philosophy of ‘any-pass’ scoring.

Question:

Does one player’s illegal action give an opposing player free reign to commit an illegal action in order to negate the first illegal action?

Answer:

A player committing one penalty does not give the fouled-on player carte blanche to commit a second penalty. Referees must issue penalties for all illegal actions.