2017 Announcer Clinic
The WFTDA has opened 70 tickets for the 2017 RDWS Announcer Clinic track in Manchester, U.K., April 21-23, 2017 at the Roller Derby World Summit. Each ticket is $100.00 USD and includes access to the keynote speakers at the RDWS each morning, along with three days of training.
This first-ever WFTDA announcer clinic will focus on building skills to participate at a tournament level and cultivating professional broadcast standards for announcers at every level. The curriculum is designed to help you develop and grow the strength of your calls, both at home league events, WFTDA-Recognized Tournaments and WFTDA Playoffs and Championships.
The course seeks to:
- Develop an understanding of WFTDA Tournaments and Events and the goals associated with announcing at these events
- Improve the quality of calls and observation techniques for the sport of roller derby
- Discover the similarities and differences inherent in roller derby announcing and other sports
- Find ways to make roller derby announcing more inclusive, especially at WFTDA Tournaments and Events
- Dissect the skills needed for in-arena announcing (PA calls and emcee), broadcast announcing (play by play and colour), and the art of the interview
Some of the curriculum presented during the course will include:
- Navigating WFTDA statistics
- Coaching and gameplay strategy at Playoffs and Championships
- New broadcast techniques and sideline reporting
- Facebook Live and other digital tools
- Vocal range & camera presence
- Giving and receiving feedback
- the anatomy of a great interview
- And much more!
The clinic will also feature hands-on learning opportunities, calling and producing broadcast segments, and the chance to work through live games scenarios in-venue and on-broadcast.
Clinic instructors include seasoned in-house and broadcast announcers Biertrix, Tara Armov, Andrew ‘Mr Whistler’ Wencer, Sasha ‘Kim Deal With It’ Morrigan, and Erica “Double H” Vanstone.
Clinic Instructor Bios
Biertrix – Rainy City Roller Derby
Biertrix has been announcing since 2010 with Rainy City Roller Derby after retirement from playing the sport. She has announced extensively across Europe on both live stream and in-venue for tournaments such as A Skate Odyssey, Skates of Glory, Blood, Skate & Tears, the Danish Championships, and European Smackdown. She has also worked several events in the United States including the 2014 Roller Derby World Cup, Beach Brawl, and the International WFTDA D1 Playoffs in Columbia in 2016.
Biertrix is passionate about bringing her insight of play into game commentary and one day hopes to be able to calculate point differentials without using her fingers.
Watch Biertrix on WFTDA.tv
Andrew “Mr Whistler” Wencer – Toronto Roller Derby
Mr Whistler has been announcing since 2010 with Toronto Roller Derby, and is currently part of the broadcast team for Toronto’s television broadcasts and online streaming. He has also been known to handle in-venue announcing duties when called upon. In addition to coordinating announcers at home in Toronto, he serves on his league’s marketing and design committees in an advisory role. A veteran of numerous tournaments in eastern Canada, he has announced at the International WFTDA Playoffs since 2014 — including the 2016 WFTDA Championships, ECDX, and the 2011 and 2014 Roller Derby World Cups. Mr. Whistler brings experience as a head announcer, having served as Tournament Head Announcer (THA) at the International WFTDA D1 Playoff in Montreal in 2016, and Toronto Roller Derby’s Quad City Chaos tournaments from 2013 through 2016. Already a member of the WFTDA Talent Management Committee, he serves as its chair, and will be overseeing the selection process for the THAs and announcing crews for the 2017 International WFTDA Playoffs and Championships. (He hopes you’re applying.)
Watch Mr Whistler on WFTDA.tv
Sasha “Kim Deal With It” Morrigan – DC Rollergirls
Sasha started announcing sports in 2004, and by 2010 she had made roller derby her speciality. She has announced over 300 games and has served as a leader within the announcer community since 2012. Since joining leadership, she has strived to improve the quality of announcing as well as the diversity of voices — including making the sport more welcoming to transgender participants. She has worked directly with the WFTDA; from 2012 to 2013 she served as a consultant, then as the Announcer Pool Coordinator in 2014 and 2015, and most recently as chair of the newly formed Talent Management Committee in 2016. She also helped found the Sports Information Committee, which authors Sports Information Books for WFTDA Tournaments. She has been affiliated with the DC Rollergirls since 2014, and had prior affiliations with the Dominion Derby Girls (2010-2012) and River City Rollergirls (2012-2014).
Watch Sasha on WFTDA.tv
Tara Armov – LA Derby Dolls
Tara Armov has been involved in roller derby since early 2004 in Los Angeles, CA. She’s been a skater, a team captain, a trainer, and an announcer. Her announcing resume includes Rollercon (almost every year they’ve had announcers), the 2011 and 2014 Roller Derby World Cups, the WFTDA Playoffs and Championships (since 2014), and multiple other local tournaments. She has been volunteering with area leagues such as the Angel City Derby Girls since 2008. Her other interests include David Bowie, cats, burritos, riding motorcycles, and contributing to Team Heckle whenever feasible.
Watch Tara on ESPN3:
Erica Vanstone (aka Double H)
Erica is the Chief Media Officer for the WFTDA, having acted as the volunteer Director of Broadcast Operations from 2010-2014, and hired as full time WFTDA staff in 2014. Erica earned a BFA from NYU Film and has worked as a coordinator for films such as “Lady in the Water,” and “The Happening.” She is an award-and-grant-winning documentary filmmaker and got her start in roller derby as an announcer for Philly Roller Derby in 2007. She served on the Board of Directors for Philly Roller Derby for more than six years, and has been an announcer, official, and skater for the league. Erica founded WFTDA.tv and has worked tirelessly to develop the program and increase the standards for video production at WFTDA events. In 2015, Erica brought WFTDA Championships Sunday to ESPN3, and spearheaded the initiative to improve broadcast announcing for network-level productions. She has been a public address and broadcast announcer for the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, and an in-arena emcee with the Arena Football League’s Philadelphia Soul. Erica lives in Philly with her fiancé, son, stepson, two cats, one dog, and the constant fear that she has something in her teeth.
Watch DoubleH on ESPN: