WFTDA Selects 2019 Tournament Head Announcers, Opens Announcer Application And Announces Other Initiatives       

The Women’s Flat Track Derby Association is pleased to reveal the Tournament Head Announcers (THAs) for the 2019 International Playoffs, Championships and Continental Cups. The Tournament Head Announcers will work directly with the WFTDA Talent Management Committee to select their crews. Please join us in congratulating this year’s selected THAs:

Announcer applications for the 2019 International WFTDA Playoffs, Championships, and Continental Cups are now open. This year sees a single-stage application, in which candidates apply for locations when submitting applications for consideration.

With emphasis on the word “International,” we have increased efforts to broaden the languages represented in our postseason events. Announcers who work in languages other than English are encouraged to apply, and to help remove barriers to participation, we are removing the requirement that candidates for Championships have prior postseason announcing experience. With the WFTDA hosting Championships outside the United States for the first time, we hope to see an increased presence of languages other than English, and in particular, French, both in venue and online; and for this reason we have selected two THAs for Montréal, to better manage what we anticipate as being a larger crew than usual. Preference for postseason experience will still be given, but we will make exceptions for the opportunity to make this a multilingual event. This year’s list of THAs includes residents of four countries and the highest presence of women in these roles in WFTDA postseason history. We look to continue to build accessible pathways for all of our community to be represented in announcing.

This year’s THA selection process highlighted a need to have a separate panel review and select THA candidates in the future, similar to the Tournament Officials Application Panel. While the Talent Management Committee (TMC) vets and approves candidates for all announcing positions, many of its members are themselves highly experienced and capable candidates for THA positions, and this year many of the TMC’s members applied. For the 2019 selections, an ad hoc selection panel comprising TMC Chair Mr Whistler, TMC members Allie Gator and Chloé Gwendoline, along with WFTDA Executive Director Erica “Double H” Vanstone and Marketing Director Jenna “Mia Culprit” Cloughley, reviewed candidates and made selections. A Tournament Head Announcer Selection Panel (THASP) will be further developed in 2019 with equitable policies and processes, and launched in 2020.

Questions about the selection process, or for interest or feedback regarding the THASP concept, may be sent to the WFTDA Talent Management Committee by emailing announcers@wftda.com.