Passing the Star

The star pass...we love watching it when it goes right, but we love watching it even more when it goes wrong. It sounds simple enough (the jammer passes her star cover to her pivot, and the pivot becomes the new jammer), but the complexities of this maneuver make it very difficult to complete legally.

Key points:

- Once the jammer takes off her star, she can no longer score points (unless she puts the star cover back on). If she had lead jammer status, she loses this status immediately; it does to transfer to the pivot, and she does not get it back even if she puts the star back on her helmet.

- The star must be handed directly from jammer to pivot.

- Only the jammer or pivot can pick up a dropped star.

- The star cannot be passed to a pivot in queue for the penalty box.

- The star cannot be passed from a jammer to a pivot if the jammer is in queue for the penalty box. If the jammer is sent to the box before the star pass is complete (before the star is put on the pivot's helmet), the jammer will go to the box as the jammer (with or without her helmet cover).

Rules about passing the star fall under Section 3.5 Passing the Star.

Cutting the Track

Cutting the track is one of my least favorite penalties, mainly because it is almost entirely avoidable. Any skater that goes out of bounds must re-enter the track without bettering their position in relation to other in-play skaters. As long as a skater is familiar with the rules and has the skating skills to stop and change direction quickly, she should be able to successful avoid cutting the track penalties.

When a skater is forced out of bounds by an opposing skater, she must re-enter behind the initiating skater EXCEPT when:

1) The initiating skater commits a penalty before the out of bounds skater re-enters.
2) The initiating skater goes out of bounds after initiating the block.
3) The initiating skater falls or takes a knee.
4) The initiating skater exits the engagement zone after initiating the block.

A skater may not re-enter bettering her position in relation to one or more opposing skaters. A skater may not re-enter bettering her position in relation to two or more teammates; a player may re-enter bettering her position in relation to a single teammate without penalty.

Rules about cutting the track fall under Section 6.11 CUTTING THE TRACK.