SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Girls Varsity Soccer Rules on Red Cards

Could someone please post what the rules are for red cards in high school play? I could not find anything on the SCHSL website. I may have found the rule book on line but it is only available for a Kindle or Iphone/Mac. I don't have either of those.

Any information or if you could point me to a website with the rules would be appreciated.

There is a question about whether the infraction should have been a straight red, and how long the player has to sit out. Oh, and the appeals process with HS League.

Thanks.

contact Skip Lax at the SCHSL. He handles soccer and any league suspensions.

I thought I recall him saying that a typical suspension is 2 matches, unless it's a DGO by handling the ball.

I believe you have to purchase the rules directly from the NFHS.

It would be easier to state what happened.

Our team was up 3-0 15 minutes into the game. It became quite physical from the other team after that. Our girls were taking a lot of cheap shots from the other team, blatant jersey pulls, elbows, etc. At one point my daughter was sandwiched by three of there players (and she still managed to clear the ball) and one of their girls pulled her pony tail. My daughter retaliated...yes, I know that is wrong, she grabbed the other girls jersey in the back which also caught the girls pony tail. She didn't pull, she didn't shove, she just grabbed it. And she let go immediately. I'm not certain the other girl even felt that much because she had it for a split second and did not really cause any movement.

I agree that the retaliator gets caught. But the ref went to a straight red card. Our coach was livid and said first off he needed to call BOTH fouls. Quite a few of us in the stands felt it should have been a yellow.

There is also a personal history with this ref in the club setting where he coached my daughter four years ago. he was not a good coach. It was a small club with just four teams that existed for two years. He was known for having a temper. We had some run-ins with this man not as a ref, but as a coach/club director. He is known for his temper. He was one kicked out of a club because his son got into a fight with another child and this man chased after the other boy until another parent stepped in. In addition, his son and my daughter played in a club for a few years in a town about two hours away. We carpooled with him for practices on week nights. There was one night that my daughter had practice and his son had a game so he drove them. His sons's team lost. This man screamed at his son for 45 minutes in the car, telling his son he needed to be a man, that his son had no b-lls, and on and on and on. All with my daughter in the car. These children were in the 8th grade. My daughter actually never told me how bad it was until a few years later. She said she was afraid I would not let her ride with him again and she was worried she would not get to play with her team again. She said his son was literally bawling and shaking the whole time and it was one of the worst things she had ever seen a parent do.

Needless to say there is not a lot of good will between us and this man. He has referred games in the past few years and when it came to my girls, let's just say if it was a close call, it NEVER went in my girls favor. WE dealt with it, we knew that it was the type person he was.

But I honestly feel this was personal today. The minute it happened other parents that were aware of the history said "that was payback" or "that was personal". Basically, he abused his power as ref. Again, should have been a yellow at most. And that fact that he was watching her get beat up the first 15 minutes was just too much for my daughter. And, there were only two referees...she plays left back. He was in a position to see how dirty the other team was playing, he heard our coach yelling at him to please call the blatant fouls and he did nothing.

The local assignor was there but did not see any of what happened. He went out, talked to the ref at half time, got the refs side the story and decreed "it was the right call, I talked to the ref and he told me what happened." HELLO...shouldn't the assignor have perhaps at least tried to talk to the coach after the game and see what the coaches thoughts were on the whole game. We won the game no problem, even with a man down. Thankfully none of our girls were seriously hurt because the other team just played to take out our girls, not play soccer. At one point they had a girl who literally threw her body in front of one of our girls driving to the goal and their girl got flattened. Of course we got called for the foul because it's kind of hard for a player to stop on a dime when a player runs from the side and jumps in front of you. It was ridiculous.

Oh, and the other referee for the game, it was the male referees daughter. So, two man crew, father and daughter team.

I was told by the AD (who I don't trust to know the rules) that the coaches would submit a report to the high school league. I asked the coach about it and she said he never said a word to her. The coach is fairly new and not up on that type stuff and take the word of the AD. The coach wants to make a report, but she said the AD has not told her to do so. She won't do one unless she is asked.

How exactly does this process work. We are not football or basketball and we are a girls team. Our AD is not going to do a thing to stand behind our girls or our coach. The coach said she felt it was no where near a foul that met the automatic red criteria. She really felt it should have been a warning to both girls, or at least a yellow.

The coach was not aware of the history my daughter had with this ref so she did not find out until after the game that he has anger management issues. Oh yeah, when the coach was yelling at him, he stopped the game, pointed to our coach and then pointed to the ground in front of him. He didn't say anything, he just kept point to her and then to the ground. More or less motioning "come here and stand in front of me." It was a classic move to show that he was going to order her around and he wanted to humiliate her. Then he shook his finger in her face and was basically abusing his authority as a ref. Of course the assignor didn't see any of this happening. And the AD is not going to do a thing, because after all, we are girls soccer.

I would like to see the rule book myself to see if it was in fact a true automatic red card. And if there is an appeal process with SCHSL. They have a league game Monday that my daughter will also miss.

And before anyone jumps on my daughter, she readily admits she should have walked away and not grabbed at the girl. She knows she lost her cool. She is embarrassed by her actions. She knows she did wrong. But I still think this guy made it personal and abused his power as ref to get back at my daughter.

NFHS Rules, Rule 12 (Fouls and Misconduct), Section 8 (Misconduct) Article 2: "A player, coach, or bench personnel shall be disqualified (red card) for:

a. Exhibiting violent conduct."

Hate to say it, but grabbing a player's jersey and ponytail in retaliation could certainly be construed as violent conduct, even if it was momentary.

As for the surrounding activity and possible extenuating circumstances, as Coach Sloan said above, Skip Lax is the man at the High School League--the coach and/or AD would have to contact him to provide any additional evidence. A representative of the school and the player in question are REQUIRED to respond to the SCHSL when a player is ejected and have an opportunity there to state their case.

When it comes to overturning or reducing a penalty, though, it almost always comes down to this...is there film of the incident? Concrete video evidence is about the only way to change the stance on a call, because everyone sees and reports the same situation just a little bit differently...everyone except the camera is a little bit biased.

Thanks Coach Chass. This is what I was looking for.

I want to make sure I understand you, my daughter is required to make a report to the SCHSL?

When I asked the AD the process he didn't say a word about that. He old me the coach was supposed to, but then when I talked to the coach she said the AD did not tell her that. She wants to make a report, but I think it odd the AD did not mention it to her.

I will call Skip Lax on Monday, thanks a bunch for the information!

Yes she is required to make a report as well as they AD/Coach. If there is no video, the appeal will not go well for you in my opinion.

Skip will tell you without video or audio of game/incident it will not be overturned; happened to a boys team where player got 2 yellows-

I would recommend your coach contact assignor and request that referee not be assigned to your daughter's games if possible...they can at least di that...

I looked around hoping someone was taping and there wasn't anyone. I know a tape would have helped. I realize it probably won't be overturned, but it should be noted. If enough coaches/players speak up, I would hope that over time he would be held accountable for his actions. He has anger issues...he actually admitted that to me five years ago when we carpooled to practice.

The coaches want him banned but I doubt the AD even cares. The ref showed up at our game today to watch. Had to show he is in charge by going on the field during halftime to advise the three referees that were calling the game. It was ridiculous. He and his wife, who is NOT a referee were standing on the field just before the game. Why???? Who knows.

I did find out that his story is that my daughter slapped the girl in the face. He was overheard telling our AD that during our game today. That is at best a complete lie. My daughter grabbed the jersey and the pony tail...there was no slapping of anyone's face. That's the kind of person he is, the truth is he over reacted and now he has to lie about what happened. I hope it comes back and bites him hard.

If he believes she deserved a red card it should be because of what she actually did, not what he is now fabricating.

Oh, and some girl from the other team posted a photo of my daughter with a caption that read "This girl got a red card for no reason." While the other team was playing a physical game, I think they were in shock that the red card was given.

We will see...I just want it noted. Hopefully when he lies enough times he will be held accountable.

I know that being a ref is hard. I could never do it myself. And I also know we have some obnoxious parents who have no clue what the rules are in soccer. We have one dad who is constantly yelling at refs and the truth is he sounds stupid because most of the time he is wrong. I can't even sit near our parents because they have no clue what is a foul and what isn't. We have one girl who thinks she plays a physical game...but she really is fouling people and the parents just encourage it by yelling at the refs every time she gets called.

So I know that it is hard for refs to deal with that. But a ref should not over react, nor should they lie about what the player really did.

Can our coach ask to see the copy of the statement the ref provides to SCHSL? I wonder if that is allowed. What is to prevent him from making up the lie that she slapped the girl?

Your AD and possibly principal of school should get contacted by Skip regarding the red. I don't know if they get a copy of the report but i don't see why the AD could not ask for it, as it is their player. However, if it is on another teams player, you would not be able to get it. I don't know if the coach can request it-but the coach needs to call Skip at SCHSL.