Jam Timer

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David Reed / Stacktrace
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Table of Contents

Introduction

The Jam Timer is the conductor of the game. They are responsible for starting, stopping, and timing the different segments of gameplay, such as jams, periods, and time outs. Jam Timers are responsible for no paperwork.

As with all officiating positions in roller derby, it’s important to be aware that Jam Timing is a combination of multiple sources of practice:

You may experience variation in Jam Timing procedures from region to region and league to league. That’s one reason why it’s important to understand the rules that govern your work as a Jam Timer and why you take specific actions that draw from convention or best practice. Throughout this guide, we’ll cite the rules and other officiating documents to support specific requirements for the Jam Timer position.

You should assume that everything else we discuss either follows as a direct consequence of the rules, or is convention directed towards safely, clearly, and consistently applying the rules. Where we present a convention that we believe to be less widespread, we’ll explicitly call it out; however, bear in mind that your region’s officiating conventions may be different from ours in ways we do not know.

Resources

Equipment

Standard equipment for a Jam Timer includes:

Like referees, Jam Timers should expect to supply their own whistle. Fox 40 Classic whistles cost roughly $6US. Other models of whistle are not acceptable. Leagues may provide stopwatches, but Jam Timers often choose to use their own stopwatches based on the model they are most comfortable with. If you don’t have a preference, Robic’s Silver 2.0 model is popular, durable, and supports the modes required for Jam Timing.

Jam Timing in a face mask is possible. You may choose to use a push-button electronic whistle, but it is difficult to produce the required cues effectively. Alternately, you can place your whistle inside your mask. You can either drop the whistle out of your mask while not issuing a whistle cue or retain the whistle inside your mask in your cheek area to allow you to speak.

You should Jam Time with two stopwatches to ensure that you’re able to time each segment of gameplay.

If you have only one stopwatch, treat this as your Period Clock. You'll still be able to complete all of your duties as a Jam Timer; you just won't have a backup clock for game segments other than the period.

Below, we’ll discuss how you use these clocks throughout the game.

One of the most important things to know about Jam Timing is that your clocks are backups. The official game time is always what is shown on the scoreboard. Your clocks provide critical backup in the case that the scoreboard does not function correctly, or that a disconnect between you and the scoreboard operator results in an incorrect time being displayed. (Rules 1.4)

Your clocks will be the primary time only for non-regulation games or scrimmages played without a scoreboard.

Always take action, including giving cues, based on the visible scoreboard clocks. Be ready to take the timing of a segment of gameplay on your clocks or provide corrections to the scoreboard operator if a malfunction occurs.

The Rules (5.4, Assessing Penalties) allow NSOs to assess penalties that are relevant to their position unless explicitly prohibited by the Head Referee. There is no specific list of which penalties are relevant to which role. A Jam Timer can expect to assess a Delay of Game and may rarely have cause to assess a Misconduct or Illegal Procedure.

The Basic Routine

The jam timer works in cycles that follow the structure of a derby game. Starting and stopping periods, jam, and time outs, one after another, is the basic routine of the jam timer. In this section, we organize the basic routine into what the jam timer does as each of those game segments starts and ends.

In each of the sequences below, we'll call out what your two clocks are doing both before and after your actions. Notice how your Jam Clock is re-used to make sure you always have a backup clock for each segment of game time, while the Period Clock's only job is timing the period.

The Jam Timer issues most cues from a position near the Pivot Line. You are not required to stand directly adjacent to the Pivot Line; you have freedom to adjust your position to maintain your safety, your sight lines, and the ability of the referees to move around you. The WFTDA Officiating Cues, Codes, and Signals document specifies that your jam-start signals should be given "facing the pack", and ends with your hand pointing "to the track area in front of the foremost Blocker". Choose your position based on those expectations, and ensure that the skaters on track have a clear line of sight to your signals.

At the start of the game, the Jam Timer executes the following steps.

Starting state: ⌚ Period Clock: Stopped, ⌚ Jam Clock: Stopped

  1. Confirm that the Head Referee is ready to begin the game, and visually confirm that officials are in position.
  2. Enter the Before each jam that does not directly follow another jam sequence.

Before each jam that does not directly follow another jam, such as a resumption of play after a stoppage or the first jam of a period, the Jam Timer executes the following steps.

Starting state: ⌚ Period Clock: Stopped, ⌚ Jam Clock: Stopped or timing Team Time Out

  1. Position yourself near the Pivot Line area.
  2. Blow a Rolling Whistle cue.
  3. Reset (if needed) and start the Jam Clock to time the lineup period.
    • If you are resuming from a time out, note that the scoreboard will continue timing the stoppage of play (Officiating Procedures 4.8) after your rolling whistle. That is, it will not start a lineup period. You should add 30 seconds to the time displayed when you give the Rolling Whistle cue to find the latest time at which the jam can start.
  4. (Optional) Give the non-standard verbal cue “Next whistle starts the jam”.
  5. Complete the pre-jam checks during the lineup period.
  6. If teams are in position and officials are in position and ready (including you), go directly to issuing the Five Seconds verbal cue and hand signal. You may allow the lineup period to extend up to the standard 30 seconds if needed, with the Five Seconds cue given at 00:25. (See Rules 1.1)
  7. If the scoreboard is displaying a lineup period clock (it may not), reset your Jam Clock to be ready to time the jam.
  8. Five seconds after the Five Seconds cue, regardless of when it was issued, give the Jam Start whistle signal and hand signal. If the scoreboard is displaying a lineup period clock, make sure to give the cue according to that clock.
  9. Reset (if needed) and start your Jam Clock to time the jam. Simultaneously, start your Period Clock.
  10. Move to a position in the track center where you are out of the way of referees and other NSOs.

Ending state: ⌚ Period Clock: Running, ⌚ Jam Clock: timing Jam

Before each jam that directly follows another jam, the Jam Timer executes the following steps.

Starting state: ⌚ Period Clock: Running, ⌚ Jam Clock: timing Lineup Period

  1. Position yourself near the Pivot Line area.

  2. Complete the pre-jam checks (see below) during the 30-second lineup period.

  3. At 00:25 into the lineup period (5 seconds prior to jam start) as displayed on the scoreboard, issue the Five Seconds verbal cue and hand signal specified in the WFTDA Officiating Cues, Codes, and Signals document.

    The cue should be issued so that it falls exactly at 5 seconds prior to jam start. Typically this means initiating the cue at around 24.5 seconds. Practice aligning your word “Five” with the scoreboard clock striking 25 seconds.

  4. Stop and reset your Jam Clock so that you're ready to begin timing the jam.

  5. At 00:30 into the lineup period as displayed on the scoreboard, give the Jam Start whistle signal and hand signal specified in the WFTDA Officiating Cues, Codes, and Signals document.

    This cue should also be issued so that it falls at exactly 30 seconds.

  6. Start your Jam Clock to time the jam.

  7. Move to a position in the track center where you are out of the way of referees and other NSOs.

Ending state: ⌚ Period Clock: Running, ⌚ Jam Clock: timing Jam

During each jam, the Jam Timer executes the following steps.

Starting state: ⌚ Period Clock: Running, ⌚ Jam Clock: timing Jam

  1. Monitor the jam clock. If the jam clock reaches two minutes, the Jam Timer calls off the jam by blowing two rounds of four short whistle blasts and repeatedly touching their hips.
    • Head Referees often appreciate a heads-up at 10 seconds before you call off the jam.
  2. Listen for jam call-off whistles from the referees. The Jam Timer joins in the echo of jam call-off. For example, after hearing the initial set of four short whistle blasts to call the jam, the Jam Timer blows four short whistle blasts twice along with the other referees.
  3. Maintain awareness for any of the situations discussed under “What to Watch During the Jam”.

Ending state: ⌚ Period Clock: Running, ⌚ Jam Clock: timing Jam or Lineup Period (when Jam ends)

At the end of each jam, the Jam Timer executes the following steps.

Starting state: ⌚ Period Clock: Running, ⌚ Jam Clock: timing Jam

  1. Start a stopwatch to time the lineup period, as a backup to the scoreboard.
  2. Return to a position near the Pivot Line area.

Ending state: ⌚ Period Clock: Running, ⌚ Jam Clock: timing Lineup Period

At the end of the first period, the Jam Timer executes the following steps.

Starting state: ⌚ Period Clock: Stopped, ⌚ Jam Clock: Stopped

  1. Checks for any requests for an Official Review.
  2. Blows a rolling whistle to indicate the end of the period.

Ending state: ⌚ Period Clock: Stopped, ⌚ Jam Clock: Stopped

At the end of the game, the Jam Timer executes the following steps.

Starting state: ⌚ Period Clock: Stopped, ⌚ Jam Clock: Stopped

  1. Wait up to 30 seconds after the end of the final Jam for a team to request an Official Review. If teams do not have an Official Review or advise the Head Referee that they do not wish to use it, you do not need to continue waiting. (This is specified in Officiating Procedures 2.6 and under “Rolling Whistle” in the Officiating Cues, Codes, and Signals document).
  2. Wait for the Jam Referees to confer with their scorekeepers to validate final scores and make any adjustments to the final jam needed (Rules 3.5).
  3. Blow a Rolling Whistle to indicate the end of the game.

Ending state: ⌚ Period Clock: Stopped, ⌚ Jam Clock: Stopped

During a stoppage of play, the Jam Timer executes the following steps.

Starting state: ⌚ Period Clock: Stopped, ⌚ Jam Clock: Stopped or timing Team Time Out

  1. Ensure your Period Clock is stopped immediately at the fourth whistle of the first set of four whistle blasts that marked the stoppage of play.
  2. Perform the appropriate ongoing visual cue for the type of play stoppage while positioned on or next to the Pivot Line. (See WFTDA Officiating Cues, Codes, and Signals). You may stop performing the visual cue once the scoreboard shows the correct type of play stoppage (Officiating Procedures 4.3-4).
  3. Verify the scoreboard period clock and communicate any required adjustments to the scoreboard operator. See under Correcting the period clock.
  4. At the conclusion of the stoppage of play, execute the steps under Before each jam that does not directly follow another jam.

Jam Timing in Depth

While executing the basic routines throughout the game, the Jam Timer must maintain their awareness of what's happening on and off the track, and be prepared to apply rules to a handful of exceptional situations.

This section starts with recommendations for what the Jam Timer should watch during each segment of gameplay, and addresses the details of what may happen during play.

What to Check Before the Game

Make sure you have answers to these questions before the game so that you're equipped to react without hesitation during play.

What to Check Before Every Jam

In the Basic Routine, we referenced your pre-jam checks. You'll run through these checks before each jam to make sure that the game is clear to proceed

None of these checks are the sole responsibility of the Jam Timer. The referees, in particular, are also involved in monitoring and reacting to the situations described below, and may take action before the Jam Timer. That's fine! It doesn't mean the Jam Timer failed. All of the officials are responsible as a team for the smooth operation of the game. However, the Jam Timer is often the official best positioned or most responsible to react to these situations.

Are the right skaters present on the track at the jam-start whistle?

Make sure you know what it means for a skater to be on the track. Reference Rules 2.2 Positions and Casebook 4.2.3. Be aware that skaters often move on and off the track during the lineup period. You should not take action until the jam-start whistle would be blown. If you need to go into an Official Time Out to assess a penalty, do so in place of starting the jam.

In all of these situations, whistle an Official Time Out instead of starting the jam. Assess a Delay of Game penalty to the captain of the team failing to field the right skaters, or a to a queued skater who is not lined up (Casebook C4.2.3A).

Keep in mind that whistling an official time out instead of starting the jam often results in skater confusion, and some may begin skating in derby direction. Ensure that you're not in a position to be struck.

Sometimes the jam is started incorrectly when it should have gone into an Official Time Out. See Officiating Procedures 6.1.1, which specifies that a jam started in error should be allowed to conclude naturally in a situation where a queued skater is not lined up, before transitioning into an Official Time Out to issue the penalty. The jam started in error must be whistled dead if an injured skater returns to play too early.

Are the medics present and attending to the game?

At least one medic must be available to treat skaters and attending to the track at all times, per the WFTDA Risk Management Guidelines (section 5.2). It's fine if one medic is tending to an injured skater provided that the other medic is in position and attending.

Is either team signaling for a Team Time Out or Official Review, and are all the conditions required for the TO or OR met (see Time Outs and Official Reviews)?

Are any officials unready to start the jam?

Are there any impediments or safety concerns around the track area?

Reference WFTDA Risk Management Guidelines, section 3, for details on many safety concerns.

Remember that track safety issues in particular may be behind you!

If any of these situations occur, whistle an Official Time Out. Work with the Head Referee and/or Head NSO to resolve the situation.

There's a lot you need to maintain in your awareness to be effective as a Jam Timer. Practice defining what a good state or a state that needs action looks like for each area you need to check, so that you can assess readiness at a glance. You can begin applying specific rules if and when you observe a situation that demands action. Some examples of this at-a-glance assessment might include:

Track AreaGood StateAction State
Medics2 medics with eyes on track
OPR Lane3 referees
IPR Lane4 referees
Jammer Line2 jammers
Score TableSignaling for help
Penalty BoxSignaling for help
Team BenchesRequesting TO or OR
Track AreaFloor issues; track maintenance; persons out of area.

As you gain experience as a Jam Timer, you will strengthen your track awareness and ability to assess situations at a glance. Find a mental rhythm that works for you.

What to Watch During the Jam

The penalty-related events below will typically be handled by the referees. However, if a referee does not have eyes on the situation or are not acting expeditiously, the Jam Timer may intervene.

Typically, the Jam Timer would call an Official Time Out and ask a referee to address the situation. However, unless forbidden by the Head Referee, the Jam Timer is empowered to directly assess relevant penalties.

Juniors Games

JRDA conduct rules are considerably stricter than WFTDA. Review JRDA Rules section J4.3.1-2 for a description of conduct violations you might observe.

All profanity merits a Misconduct penalty in JRDA games, even if non-directed. See JRDA Casebook JC4.3.1.B and JRDA Code of Conduct 5.8.

Final 30 Seconds of the Period

There are special rules for what happens if a jam ends with 30 seconds or fewer remaining on the Period Clock. In this situation, the Period Clock would run out before the Lineup Clock reaches 30 seconds or simultaneously with it. A jam should not start in this situation (Rules 1.1), unless a Time Out or Official Review is called. See also Officiating Procedures 2.7.

If a Team Time Out or Official Review is called before the expiration of the Period Clock, you’ll start a new jam following that stoppage of play like any other. The period clock will resume at the jam-starting whistle.

If an Official Time Out was called, there are three possible outcomes.

  1. The officials may exercise discretion to run another jam.
  2. If the officials decline to do so, the teams may call a Time Out or Official Review, in which case another jam will be run.
  3. If both the officials and the teams decline to take action, the game will end when the period clock expires.

As the Jam Timer, you simply wait for the Period Clock to run out while watching closely for the teams to call a Time Out or Official Review. Do not give the "Five Seconds" cue. When the Period Clock expires, execute the steps under At the end of the first period or At the end of the game as appropriate.

Current versions of the CRG Derby Scoreboard will highlight the lineup period clock in red to indicate to you that the jam should not start without a timeout being called. Be aware, however, that older versions will not provide this warning and may still be in use.

Time Outs and Official Reviews

Each team’s Captain and Designated Alternate can use their team’s Time Outs and Official Review. Time Outs and Official Reviews must be called when a jam is not currently running.

The officials may call an Official Time Out at any time a jam is not running, and may stop a jam to call an Official Time Out if needed. (This typically happens due to skater injury or another safety concern).

Several conditions must be met for a team’s Time Out or Official Review request to be valid.

When a Time Out or Official Review is requested and all preconditions are met:

  1. Blow four short whistle blasts to signal stoppage of the period clock.
  2. Stop your Period Clock.
  3. If this is a Team Time Out, reset your Jam Clock and start timing the Time Out as a backup to the scoreboard.
  4. If there was any substantive delay between the request for the time out and it being granted, adjust the Period Clock to the time when the time out was requested. In particular, if the Period Clock expired between those two points and time, it should be restored to the former. (See Officiating Procedures 4.7).
  5. Communicate any changes to the Period Clock to the Scoreboard Operator.
  6. Stand at the Pivot Line and give the appropriate verbal cue and hand signal for the type of play stoppage (see the Officiating Cues, Codes, and Signals document, pages 16-17). Make sure that the scoreboard operator can see your hand cues.
  7. If a Team Time Out was called, wait for the scoreboard to display 1:00. Otherwise, wait for the Head Referee to indicate that you can restart play. There is no standard signal for this. Many referees use a hand cue, pointing an index finger upwards and rotating it rapidly.
  8. If you prefer or if your local convention expects it, you may use non-standard cues during the resumption of play to ensure that skaters clearly understand your actions. Some Jam Timers find this helps in situations where skaters misinterpret the rolling whistle as a jam-start whistle, which is particularly common with less-experienced junior skaters.
    • (Optional) Give the nonstandard hand signal for “this whistle starts a lineup period”. Stand on or adjacent to the Pivot Line and extend your open palm in the direction of the skaters with fingers together, indicating “stop”.
    • (Optional) Give the nonstandard verbal cue “Next whistle ends the (time out/official review)“, if applicable.
  9. Execute the steps given under Before each jam that does not directly follow another jam.

Illegal Time Out and Official Review Calls

Rarely, it may occur that the jam timer or another official incorrectly grants a Team Time Out or Official Review in a circumstance where the preconditions are not met, such as in response to a signal from a team staff member who is not wearing the C or A symbol.

See Casebook 4.2.3 scenario G and Casebook 4.2.4 scenario A. This situation will result in an Official Time Out and a Delay of Game or Illegal Procedure penalty to the skater who requested the Time Out or Official Review, or to the captain if the requestor is not a skater.

Correcting the Period Clock

During a stoppage of play, you can work with the Scoreboard Operator to make corrections to the official Period Clock based on your (backup) Period Clock. Hand signals for this process are not standardized. It is common to use one finger pointing up or down to indicate the direction of the adjustment, followed by a number of seconds by fingers. Conventions differ for adjustments larger than five seconds. Large adjustments may require the Jam Timer to go to the scoreboard area. Discuss with the Scoreboard Operator before the game how you plan to signal time adjustments or a confirmation that the clock is correct.

Stoppages of play are the only time you can change the official game clock on the scoreboard. If your backup Period Clock and the official Period Clock diverge, and you believe that your backup clock has the correct time, you may call an Official Time Out between jams to allow the official Period Clock to be corrected. (See WFTDA Officiating Procedures, sections 3.2.1 and 4.5). Your backup clock is not necessarily correct; it is your responsibility to maintain awareness.

Doing so is disruptive to the flow of gameplay, like all official time outs. Use your judgement to decide whether or not you need to take this action. If the situation makes a small time divergence have an impact on gameplay, such as in a close-scoring game, call the timeout. If the divergence is large, such that a participant or spectator likely noticed it, call the timeout; in this case, your action not to call the timeout may be more disruptive than calling it. In all other situations, assess on a case-by-case basis.

Managing Edge Cases

Correcting the Jam Clock

The jam clock may be corrected without a stoppage of play, provided that

  1. The time is off by more than 3 seconds.
  2. No more than 15 seconds of gameplay have elapsed.

(See WFTDA Officiating Procedures, section 3.1).

This process occurs rarely and will generally require the jam timer to approach the scoreboard, or for the scoreboard operator to observe and correct a malfunction independently.

Overtime Jams

There are two key diffferences in overtime play for the Jam Timer.

  1. Because no Lead Jammer is assigned, all Overtime Jams run for two minutes and are terminated by the Jam Timer. (Rules 1.5.1).
  2. The lineup period for every Overtime Jam (including the lineup period between the final jam of regular play and the first Overtime Jam) is 60 seconds. (Officiating Procedures 2.8 and 3.3).

The procedure for transitioning from regular play into an Overtime Jam is described in Officiating Procedures 2.8: after the last jam of regular play, transition to overtime play with a 1-minute lineup period after the Head Referee advises teams that overtime play will begin.

Be aware that previous editions of the Rules explicitly specified one-minute lineup periods for Overtime Jams. The current edition of the Rules does not, but Officiating Procedures do. This inconsistency may cause confusion about what's expected, which is one reason it's valuable for the Head Referee to convey the message of upcoming overtime to both teams.

Sudden Scoring (JRDA Only)

JRDA’s Sudden Scoring rules apply when, at halftime, the score differential is 150 points or more and the trailing team has 25 points or fewer.

When Sudden Scoring is in effect for Period 2, the procedures for the Jam Timer change:

  1. Jams run for up to 1:00 instead of 2:00.
  2. No Lead Jammer is assigned, so that all jams are whistled off by the Jam Timer.
  3. Overtime Jams do not change and remain 2:00 long.

See JRDA Rules, Appendix 1.

Injury Call-Offs (JRDA Only)

JRDA rules allow for a special “continuation” of a jam that was terminated due to injury in a narrow set of circumstances. Such a continuation jam can occur when all of these conditions are met:

  1. The jam is called off due to injury.
  2. The injury was not the result of penalized contact.
  3. The opposing team (to the injured player’s team) had Lead at the time of call-off.
  4. A continuation has not already occurred for this jam.

See JRDA Rules, Appendix 2.

  1. Injury occurred to only one team.

See JRDA Officiating Procedures and Staffing Guidelines, section 4.

A continuation entails a new lineup period (Before each jam that does not directly follow another jam), with all of the same players and same positions. The jam number remains the same. The continuation runs for the balance of the original jam clock. If the jam was called off due to injury at 1:15, the resumed jam may run for up to 0:45.

Before initiating a continuation, the officials should inform the coaches and allow the Lead Jammer the opportunity to opt out of invoking the continuation rule. (See JRDA Officiating Procedures and Staffing Guidelines, section 4).

Be aware that Injury Call-Offs are a relatively new rule that is not applied often, due to its limited circumstances of use. Not all officials may know the fine points of the rule.

Additional Responsibilities

The Jam Timer role can be a good one for the Head NSO, because it places the HNSO in the center of the track and allows them to observe the other officials at work.

If the number of available officials is badly constrained, it is possible for the Jam Timer to also act as solo Penalty Tracker. (This combination will only happen in Regulation, not Sanctioned, games, due to the sanctioning requirement of lineup tracking). Other combinations are less viable.

A Jam Timer will often provide informal support as a Penalty Wrangler for less-experienced Penalty Lineup Trackers.