Area 1D Upper Division Referees,
Thank you all for your participation in the AYSO Fall season. You’ve made it a Safe, Fun and Fair experience for our players.
Over the past couple of weekends, we’ve had some unfortunate occurrences of player Send-Offs (Red cards). Most have been as a result of two Cautions in a game, but there have been a few which involve either Serious Foul Play (SFP) or Violent Conduct (VC).
As you know, when a player is Sent-Off (for whatever reason), an AYSO Referee Report must be completed by the (Center) Referee, shared with the ARs and then sent to the Area Referee Administrator (me) for review. All of this within 24 hours of the game. Once it is completed (OK’ed by the Area Referee Administrator), it is then sent to the Area Director (Phil Ockelmann). The game cards (for both teams), a hard-copy of the Referee Report, the Time Sheets and the Player Card(s) for those who have been Sent-Off are then delivered to Phil’s home mailbox in Redondo Beach.
Send-Offs can result in a punishment protocol beyond the player’s exit from the game in which he/she was carded. There are future game expulsions all the way up to expulsion for the season and play-offs. In severe circumstances, there can be even more dire consequences to the offending player. As such, it is extremely important that we, as Referees, (a) understand and apply the correct offense (foul) to the player, e.g.., Serious Foul Play or Violent Conduct; and (b) adequately describe the situation involving the Send-Off. Simply writing in the Referee Report that “Player #3 was Sent-Off for Violent Conduct” does not give the Area Director sufficient information to determine the appropriate consequences. A retaliatory push to an opponent is very different than a right-hook to the jaw.
Please review the recording below which focuses on the difference between Serious Foul Play and Violent Conduct, and will describe some possible ways that the offenses can be described in the Referee Report. The presentation from this meeting may be viewed here.