Featured Official: Mags Payne

This months featured official is the wonderful referee - Mags Payne!

Mags started out as a skater, but quickly realised that her real skills lay in the world of officiating. Not only is she a great referee, but she’s also a big part of the league - including contributing her amazing Rule of the Week, which you can find here: link to ARRG forum .

Joined ARRG in: 2010! Which seems like a MILLION years ago!

Role in ARRG: Referee.

Favourite Position to Officiate: I love pack work, so OPR/IPR. I love the intensity of having to pay attention to 9 million things at once!

Your Derby Story - Why Are You Here?: I started derby because my best friend wanted to start a sport. She was a natural. I *really* wasn’t! It took me a year and a half to get out of fresh meat! Seriously, the first time I tried to do 25 in 5, I got SEVEN. When I started people tended to assume that women would be skaters, unless they were injured, and men were refs. So I tried to become a skater. Sadly, it just wasn’t for me and I didn’t enjoy it. But I loved being a rules nerd and NSO’d a lot. I took a 6 month break to work out what to do and during that time Cherry Fury cornered me on a bus and basically prodded me (literally!) until I agreed to give reffing a try. The moment the stripes went on 2 years ago, I never looked back! Refereeing is definitely the path for me!

Best Official-Related Advice: One of my favourite referees says “Every day is a school day”. And I think that’s really important. You never stop learning or wanting to improve. Always ask for feedback and use every mistake to make yourself better. And remember to have fun! I know we have our official faces on a lot, but really, we do it cause we love it - don’t forget that!

What You Do For the League Aside From Officiating: I am a WFTDA Officials’ Rep and writer of our Rules of the Week forum posts. I also drive fellow referee Kirds ‘n’ Slay about a lot! (A big part of being an official involves road trips - my little zeebmobile is often full of officials!).

Any Funny/Embarrassing Officiating Stories: Ha, so many! A skater once transitioned into me when I was OPRing and I put my hands up to stop us colliding and I accidentally grabbed her boobs. She found it hilarious, I was mortified! Also, at my first ever game the referees sat in the penalty box until the skate outs were over. When everyone stood up to start equipment checks, I fell off the bench! Not a particularly auspicious start!

Derby Hero: Ugh, so many. And I know everyone says that, but it’s true - there are so many awesome people in derby! I mean, there’s all the ARRG Officials, who just make it an absolute joy. There’s the refs and officials out with the league that I look up to and learn so much from (Righteous Oxide, Ella Bella Bang-Bang, Cherry Fury, Candy Moho, Danger…the list is HUGE and is basically every official). There’s so many skaters who have supported me along the way. It’s everyone. And that’s the best thing about derby - you’re someone’s hero. Everyone is. There’s always someone looking up to you and learning from you, and that’s amazing.

What Do You Do Outside of Derby: I work in video games, so I do spend quite a lot of time on my consoles even when I’m not at work! Every year I do a ‘gaming marathon’ playing for 24+ hours non-stop to raise money for the Edinburgh Sick Kids’ Hospital. I am a massive ice hockey fan (Go Jets Go!) too, although due to reffing I can’t get to many live games. I’m also studying for a degree in Psychology with the Open University. I have a lovely boyfriend who is willing to travel internationally to watch me ref and I’m also a crazy cat lady.

Fun Fact About You: I once appeared on Crimewatch! (In the background - not as a wanted person!).