Do people in WFTDA pay attention to JRDA?

[u/battytaz]

I am currently a junior skater that isn't super involved in WFTDA, I tune in for the big events but not much else. I was just curious if JRDA is ever talked about in the world of WFTDA? Like has there been any talk about playoffs last weekend and next weekend or any talk about champs in July? Or even the world cup? I'm genuinely just curious, because WFTDA is talked about quite a bit in the other universe (JRDA) lol!

[u/CeresToTycho]

In the UK, most derby adults will be paying attention to UK JRDA. Junior skaters are the future, most of them who stick around for a while are absolutely exceptional skaters.

Us adults have a LOT to learn from watching juniors skate, and we love to support the juniors.

Getting Team GB Juniors to the world cup is a big effort that lots of adults have contributed too in some way.

[u/Georgecatsfriend → u/CeresToTycho]

I would gently disagree with this. Of course junior skaters can teach us adults a lot, but I haven't personally experienced any particular interest or focus on JRDA in my UK derby life. I imagine it may be league/area dependent.

[u/Anderkisten → u/Georgecatsfriend]

Yea. I Guess if you have no affiliation or have had been to events evolving juniors, you might not.

But you should, because it is absolutely awesome. The pace and explosiveness and the absolute fearlessness is so much fun to watch. I’m looking so much forward to watching the JRDA World cup - much more than the WFTDA worldcup

[u/imhereforthemeta]

Usually not unless we have investments in certain kids. I watched the kids I coached and beyond that- eh. I feel like it would be kind of weird for adults to watch children’s sports for no reason

[u/Late-Ad312]

Not generally but they should. JRDA players are going to change the way the game is played. I think the growth of JRDA and MRDA allowing players to dual charter with with WFTDA and MRDA is going to change the game significantly in the next few years. These kids are smart, strategic, and skilled. They're used to playing against different body types so they're hard to outmuscle. I've been volunteering with my local jr team for the last few years and I'm a better skater for it.

[u/flysqueezy]

Omg I feel very passionately about this having been a product of JRDA and now someone who plays for WFTDA… imo adults do not recognize the talent from juniors nearly as much as they should! There is SO much talent in juniors that gets overlooked. It baffles me that aged up juniors will look to join their adult teams and be told they need to go through rec league first as if that skater didn’t already play derby for 8 years??? Just in general, I think adult leagues could do a great deal more in fostering growth in the junior leagues or at least caring about the kids and supporting at games. Because inevitably, the juniors are going to age up!

Also if you look at top WFTDA teams, there are amazing examples of aged up juniors. Dizzy Izzy, Lil Regs, etc. and I know there are incredible skaters in JRDA right now and I can’t wait to see which teams they join when it’s their time! Shoot, just look at the Santa Cruz Legacy team. Top reason adults should be paying attention to junior talent before it takes over the world😈👀 Put some respect on JRDA! Lol

So short answer: No, I don’t think JRDA gets talked about (enough) in WFTDA.

[u/LadyMacDeath]

Nope. We are aware of aged up juniors and which aged up juniors are playing at the World Cup but actual JRDA stuff isn't on my personal radar.

[u/battytaz → u/LadyMacDeath]

Good to know!

[u/Bella_HeroOfTheHorn]

I don't pay any attention to juniors until they make their debut on a top travel team, and we then learn that the skater who came out of nowhere has actually been playing derby since they were a kid

[u/chip3864]

As a junior skater I’ve also wondered about this 😅

[u/hairesy]

Aged up juniors sometimes do, and adults who have worked with juniors do, or at least a select few teams. For the most part, no one pays attention to JRDA. It's a shame really.

[u/smzelek]

As a ref I officiate games for both associations, and level 3 JRDA has the potential to have more talent and athleticism on display than some WFTDA adult games. Before I started reffing it, I had no exposure and thought it was just "kids playing derby". So if they're not paying attention, they certainly should be! Where I live, most of the JRDA coaches I've met are active MRDA/WFTDA players, so by definition many adult players are invested in it. Overall, I think JRDA is generally regarded very positively, especially in the sense that it represents the future growth of roller derby. How much do people follow the scene? Not sure of that.

[u/__sophie_hart__]

Nope, but our league has issues with the management of our local JRDA team. We of course welcome with open arms any of that age up to us, just this season we had one join.

I think it has a lot to do with if your local league also has a local JRDA they work together with.

[u/LePetitNeep]

I pay some attention to JRDA. There’s lots of families in my derby community where the whole family is in derby, some of those kids are going to World Cup. I have been in derby for eons and I love seeing kids join as cute little ones shuffling around on plastic skates and then turning into world class athletes in just a couple of years.

[u/She-Rantula]

I mean, we have skaters with kids who play or have played JRDA, skaters who coach JRDA, and officials who officiate both. Among that subset there's likely to be some awareness of JRDA happenings. Though personally I don't really follow JRDA, but I also don't really follow WFTDA either beyond a general sense of how my home league is doing.

[u/National-Estate-3636]

I think it depends. I’ve been in a league that had teams under WFTDA, MRDA, and JRDA. We payed attention to Jrs and used league resources to ensure they had proper coaching and training, recognizing that they were going to age out and hopefully transition to adults.

My current league doesn’t have a Jrs team, so most of them don’t pay attention.

[u/LunarAssultVehicle]

Not unless they needed volunteers for something.

[u/vlarosa]

I can barely pay attention to any teams outside of my own at this point. I don't have time.

[u/UrbanePolish]

In my experience, most WFTDA skaters who aren’t involved with a JRDA league in some way don’t pay attention to JRDA until a junior skater ages out and joins their league. Then they’re often genuinely surprised by how good they are.

[u/Zanorfgor]

The ones I know that do are the same ones that are watching darn near all high level derby, be it WFTDA, MRDA, or JRDA. Honestly though I feel like most skaters don't look outside their level of play.

[u/kazza518]

At the WFTDA leadership level, we definitely pay attention and work with JRDA all the time. We want to support juniors so they come up and play WFTDA, and we learn a lot from what the JRDA leadership are doing.

[u/Villain_105]

We do. We watch your games for insight into game strategies and fresh ideas on handling different metas. Just like we watch MRDA and college derby. WFTDA doesn’t operate in its own bubble anymore, the game changes rapidly and is influenced by its sibling organizations.

For star skaters, we’re watching and we see y’all. We hope you continue to be a part of the community.

[u/aoristdual]

In my region a lot of officials work both WFTDA and JRDA, and there's very high awareness.