WFTDA survey question.

[Rogzilla]

At the end of the first part of the WFTDA survey that's linked from their site, there's a question that reads, "Compared to my support for female roller derby, I support male roller derby teams and leagues:" and presents choices, "More So," "Equally So," "Less So," and "Not Sure."

Pretty cool.

[skatebreed]

Yeah I took it as well and thought that was very cool of them to add in as well

[peter]

is this really cool?
could this give wftda 'data' that isnt beneficial to mens derby?

[slim]

It is really cool, because it means the WFTDA is paying attention to men's derby, and trying to get a better feel for how its member base feels about it. Also, none of the options are "I hate it," which is a plus.

[peter]

what if the results of the survey indicate that the majority of results indicate that their member base support mens derby 'less so'

i dont think it is a bad thing but im not so quick to assume it is a great thing either

[Pitchit]

what if the results of the survey indicate that the majority of results indicate that their member base support mens derby 'less so'

i dont think it is a bad thing but im not so quick to assume it is a great thing either

I agree that it could be devious.
That is why I spread the word far and wide for people to fill it out. I know that the people who know me will do the right thing.

[Killsbury Doughboy]

The point is that WFTDA is asking the question, and that's a positive step. If the results come back negatively, then they've learned that they should stay the course regarding their involvement, but at least they will have asked the question.

If the reaults are positive, then they will have to decide if they want to act on their findings. But, again, they will have asked the question, and will have learned the feelings of WFTDA fans. Knowledge is power, knowing is half the battle, blah, blah, blah.

[Girl Fawkes]

I think it will also be interesting if the results can be broken down regionally, maybe see where the support is. IE coincides with existing teams predominantly (I would think) or maybe if there's a section that says they'd be interested but there isn't actually a team, it'd be a catalyst to a guy who was maybe thinking about starting a league but thought the response wouldn't be good.

[Rogzilla]

WFTDA published some of the results of their survey, but the men's derby question was not included:

http://wftda.com/sponsors/opportunities

[Rogzilla]

I contacted WFTDA at the address on the site (sponsorship@wftda.com) and they sent me a summary of the survey results. Here is the part pertaining to the men's derby question:

Current skaters show a greater support for men’s roller derby than those not involved in the sport. Thirty-eight percent of skaters support men’s roller derby at least on an equal level as women’s derby, significantly more than the 21 percent of fans who support men’s derby.

I think it's interesting that there are differing levels of support between skaters and fans, but I can imagine that there are many fans who are simply unaware that men's derby exists. My first exposure to flat track derby (and any kind of roller derby) was through a men's and women's double-header, and I live in a geographic area that has multiple men's leagues that actively bout each other, but I realize that I'm probably atypical (please, no jokes).

They surveyed nearly 10,000 people. Half were skaters, half were fans. If anyone wants the summary, send me a PM with your email address and I'll forward it to you. It's a Word doc. They said it was no problem if I shared it.