High School - coaches get cards. And they can accumulate and cause long term penalties for the school.
High school rules include cards for coaches. In some states a red card to a coach is a huge thing. In Texas, for example, one red card leads to required training at a cost to the coach and probation for an extended period. A second red card could lead to suspension of coaching privileges, which may mean a loss of the job. I should add that some high school leagues have repercussions to the school, possibly including fines or restrictions on post-season play.
We had an assistant coach last year who got a red card in three straight games (with a one-game suspension in between each game of course). Surprisingly, he is still the assistant coach at that school.
Not only do we show the yellow (and the red) card to HS coaches, we also write it up. So as others have alluded to, it's far from an empty gesture.
In Iowa, any HS varsity team (players and coaches) that gets 4 red cards in a season is no longer eligible for the State Tournament. We have instances of Regional tournament games being halted because a team gets their 4th Red Card during the game. The non-offending team automatically advances. The referees aren't necessarily aware, but there is a HS Administration Representative on site.
I can just imagine it ... Team A is leading 3-0 in the final minutes of the state championship when a player gets a second yellow for a poorly timed challenge (or something more stupid like DR) resulting in the fourth red card of the year for the team. Game over and Team B is the champion!
This is straight from the IHSA rules page: "Any Varsity team during the regular season that receives a total of 25 or more yellow cards will be prohibited from participating in the IHSA State Tournament series." In the game I described earlier where I ejected the coach, the home team had 23 Yellows going into the game. They walked away with 24 total but since they lost on PK's they didn't qualify anyway.
While I agree that there are problems with cumulative cards (because different refs card with different frequencies, for different behaviors), I totally disagree that they are ineffective at controlling behavior. I repeatedly see a player who got a YC dial down reckless play. They are very aware that another YC kicks them out of the game. Ironically, the players in question often play better soccer. Probably because they become so careful and focused on playing the game right (and not like a wildman).
If a player gets banned from the last three matches of the season because he got 10 cards, it's actually 100% effective at preventing him from having any bad behavior the last three matches of the season.
That a non sequitur--that is responding to the consequences of 2CT in a game, not cumulative cautions. I do think cumulative sanctions have some effect on behavior--but does it have more effect on player/coach behavior or on referee behavior? Knowing there are cumulative consequences can make referees hesitant to give a caution that would benefit the particular game. (I think this is likely a stronger effect for cumulative group punishment than cumulative individual punishment.)
In WI it is 24 cumulative cards which I don't agree with either. They play 24 games in a season. If I give out one card a match that is dropping them from playoff contention. To me, that sort of handcuffs me in how I want to hand out cards or how I want to control a match. Now I don't usually hand out a card a game, but I have handed out multiples on some...
That's not what I mean by "cumulative cards". Player A makes a reckless challenge in three games and gets a CT in each. Player B forgets his necklace is still on in one game, moves early on a PK in another , takes his shirt off after scoring in another and gets a caution in each. Player C gets a caution in three straight games for dissent. Under the rules of some leagues, all three must sit a game. That is asinine. Cautions are designed to tell a player that their behavior is beyond acceptable and warn he/she that that if it continues, he/she will be removed for the match. A caution should have zero affect on future games and whether one is eligible to participate in them.
I have no problem with cumulative card punishments and have never once taken it into account when reffing a game. I am there to officiate that game. I am not the one responsible for planning for the next match. That’s on the team and coach.
Agree with FairPlay- I always feel like my responsibility to a game is to that game, and what that game needs. Adding external context to your in-game thought process seems wrong at face value.
People have griped about this cumulative thing and how some guys treat it, allowing teams to get away with more because theyre close to the limit. personally, I don't care about your match yesterday or tomorrow, I'm here to officiate today's match as fairly as I can. If you're on 24, don't play recklessly etc... I'll caution you today the same as I would someone else yesterday. A coach approaching me pre-match and telling me they're on 24 YC for the season soooooooo.... is another story. Isn't that, in itself, worthy of a caution? I dunno, but it isn't changing me one bit if I can help it. We had a clinic about getting the violent conduct and serious foul play out of the game. Anecdotally, some guys have told me they're not changing anything, which would be ok if they weren't allowing it in the first place, but amny of them aren't changing when they should be.
If yellow cards, in the microcosm of 1 game, modifies player behavior with the threat of expulsion, why would it not modify the player's behavior in the macrocosm of a season with the threat of expulsion? Does that not also modify the player's behavior, in accord with its design?
I am not saying that I don't want Cumulative card counting, I just feel like it should be more than one card per match. I had a HSBV team that I reffed 4 times this year including a playoff match last night. I had a player come onto the pitch EACH GAME with his wristwatch on. I caught it each time before I blew the whistle, but if "by the book" that would be 4 YC's for dumb arse reasons. If I want to put a mark on the match to take care of players not respecting the distance, and after a verbal I give out a YC, I feel that is just, but if you have to do that 20 some times that team is done. I think 30 is a more realistic number IMHO. Get a bad game or two out of the way.
I have bolded above the points I would like to address. Yes...some leagues, and to differing degrees. But that is why we have Misconduct Reports and Review Committees. They can decide whether wearing a necklace 3 times is the same as 3 reckless challenges. We are not judge and jury...just judge. Cumulative - I disagree with your assertion that there should be no effect on the future. To me it is much like points on a drivers license. Do it once, you get a ticket, and some points on your license. Disobey the laws enough and we will take away your license for a while.
regarding the uniform YC, like my assignor said once "You handle it how you want; you can just have them fix it, or you can be a d*** about it, either way, I'll support you." Weird advice maybe, but I took it.
Aha...yes. Well picked up. We decide on the guilt...not the sentence. (I think I was hung up on the word play)
If a mistake is made 24 times is it really a mistake anymore? Or more likely a refusal to follow the rules. I don’t have a lot of sympathy for people that don’t do things like correct their equipment. Because as minor as we perceive it, it is that much easier to correct on their part. Not doing so is on them.