Question Number: 28900

Mechanics 10/25/2014

RE: Rec Under 11

Jonathan Maholic of Bellefonte, PA USA asks...

I had an incident happen in a recent U10 rec game that I reffed. At this level I was refereeing alone, with no AR's. I called one player for the home team for two fouls within 30 seconds. In the next 2 minutes he went down twice in collisions that he felt that he was fouled, but I saw contact both ways so did not call a foul. After the second collision, he got up clearly mad that I did not call the foul, although I know I made the right call. I was about to take him aside and talk to him, when the visiting team began a serious attack, and I decided to wait until the end of the play to talk to him. As soon as I looked away, he sprinted straight towards the player with the ball, and slide-tackled him from behind with the cleats up. I immediately stopped play, and was approaching to card him, but the coach got to him first. The coach told him that he was done for the game. I knew at that point a yellow card would have been meaningless, since he was already out for the game. Should I have given him a red card anyway, and forced his team to play down for the rest of the game? In retrospect, that foul did win them the game by eliminating the strongest opposing player, who ended up in the hospital. So, my two questions are, 'Is it appropriate to show cards at this level at all?' and if so, 'should I have carded him or just let the coach handle things?'

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Jonathan
I personally do not use cards at this level. I will use the coaches to deal with the situation in the way that was done here. Also at this level I'm unsure if there are playing sanctions for a dismissal as many times there is no organised competition. Once it is an organised competition played under full rules then cards will apply. In the UK there is a blue card which is timed suspension instead of a caution. It means that there is a sanction albeit a limited one.
If something is so serious that it needs a card then the referee should take the appropriate action.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Jonathan,

Concerning reaction from such a young player! Glad to see the coach intervened very quickly though.

If a player begins making frequent fouls - 2 within 30 seconds, for instance - it might be worth having a word with him at this point, because persistent infringement is becoming an issue. At such a young age, we need to take on the role of leading the match as well, so you'll want to explain to the player what he's doing wrong (you'd speak to the player in a different manner to, say, an U/16 player). Of course that might not have made a difference.

When you can see a player who looks like he's out for revenge on another player, you can try to intervene verbally 'no silly tackles, number 10!'. It can help, or he may not listen.

As to the issue around the cards - where I first began refereeing, U/10 and up played on the full sized field with proper laws. So, that meant cards had to be a part of it - and a coach pulling a player off the field cannot be a substitute. Games below that were played on a smaller field with very heavily modified rules - and in those games referees wouldn't bring cards onto the field, but would use the coaches to manage the players.