Red card rash

Four dogso reds would be a lot, I'm thinkiing. There are probably some of us who haven't had four in their careers. But, if they happened, they happened. I'm more aware of defenders in the area which negates the one missing D. ( in my close cases)

 

DOGSOs just happen. 4 is statistically unlikey, but not impossible. Stuff happens.
Four VC or SFP, that would be cause to self-evaluate.

 

Were most of these U-18 and were they rec or comp? Makes a difference it seems. Not surprised at all on the count and you really shouldn't pay attention to them. Give them when they are warranted and don't when they're not. Don't worry about the count, just call the games.

Heck, I had a men's league game have 5 reds in one match. Ok, ok so 2 of them were post-match send offs..

 

My advice is to ignore the number of red cards in the big picture. Instead, I would recommend reviewing the situation each time you have to give a send off. Talk to your crew, watch the tape (if you're lucky enough to have it).

If your self analysis reveals something you need to work on, fantastic. For example, if you have a 2CT you need to ask yourself what the factors were that lead to it. Maybe you were letting too much go early and it got out of control. Maybe the guy was just having a bad day. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

Focus on each one separately and you'll be fine. Otherwise you might talk yourself out of the next deserved SO because you don't want to have X number of reds this season.

 

Excellent advice. Curiosity got me thinking about my own count.
Total games since March: 65 or so (both as CR and AR)
Total sendoffs: 10
Breakdown:
DA--2 VC and 1 for AL
Amateur: SFP/DOGSOF/AL
HS: AL/SFP
U15B: SC
U16B: VC

I agree with those that have expressed a sentiment that sendoffs are directly correlated to the level of games one is officiating. Younger age (even if competitive level) probably less likely. Older teens and men's amateur level, the probability goes up significantly.

 

Other than self-reflection, don't give it anohter thought. Each game is an individual entity in itself and you can't compare like you are doing.

Sure it's nice to step back and think "wow, that's a non-typical pattern", and the self-reflection is great, but the thing is, every game is unique, heck you could ref two teams today, great game, very clean, no issues. Tomorrow, same teams and get a game from hell.

where you will get into trouble is finding patterns where it's coincidence. Cards spanning games might by you (self-reflection) and it just might be sheer dumb luck.

 

As a former tournament director, I can tell you that U-16 boys is always top of the chart for cards, followed closely by U-17 boys. U-19 boys will normally be third (we didn't have U-18 as a separate division), followed by U-19 girls. Locally, our men's league has had a huge number of reds so far this season in the O-40 and O-50 divisions, far more than the open and O-30 divisions have collected. As you might guess, the O-40's and O-50's don't get the finest referees (it does help if the referee isn't the youngest person on the field), and you'd guess that language is the primary reason. It's not, at least this season.

 

New here, but I can sympathise with you. I usually average a red card a season, usually a year. However I had one Sunday where I handed three out between two games. As everyone else has said, I went back and thought about how I could have handled each situation differently and determined that a red card was required in each case. Don't let it eat at you, just make sure you got the misconduct right.

 

DOGSO for keeper?? if it's a do-or-die play and not obviously cynical I'd be real reluctant to go beyond the PK.

 

You judge it by what they do, not what position they play or what minute of the match we're in.

 

Why would you be reluctant??? A keeper can be just as guilty as any other player. Wow.

 

Oh dear. A keeper who make a keeper-like play in the PA and happens to foul his opponent gives up a PK. He's not cheating and he should not be sanctioned for that. In fact there's a proposal to make that, in so many words, part of the LOTG because that's how refs are dealing with the issue in fact.

 

I agree with you 100%. However, I have worked tournaments where the assignor has basically said: "We need these teams to come back next year, give the GK a yellow and give the PK. That's punishment enough"

 

What else should we let the GK get away with?

DOGSO is DOGSO.

 

If I'm the referee at such a tournament, I'm out of there. Sorry, I thought I was here to referee soccer under the Laws of the Game. If you want to play Calvinball, find somebody else. If the tournament has modified the Laws of the Game in their rules of competition to make DOGSO a caution instead of a send off, then I know that in advance, but I suspect they will not get sanctioned by their state youth soccer association if they do that.

If an assignor in my state tells referees that, the Professionalism Committee will be holding a hearing about the assignor. The assignor is not an instructor or assessor. They have no business telling referees how to referee. Not in their job description.

 

DOGSO is usually the one send off you can do without argument (well real argument). Everyone knows its coming. I've gotten more questions when I go yellow cause all 4Ds aren't clear than when I do pull red.

 

Eastshire, no, the proposed changes to the DOGSO rules are not about losing keepers, but about the "triple penalty" - the PK, the send-off, the suspension - which applies to all players. A player who fouls in the penalty area while completing for the ball in a 1-on-1 situation is perceived by the public as unlucky, not a cynical cheat, like Suarez or the defenders who hack at the 19 yard line and only give up a DFK. This is how refs try to apply it in reality, especially with keepers who are almost always in a 1-on-1 situation (someone might call it "do or die"). A keeper that closes, goes low, snatches at the ball,....misses, and takes out the attacker, is making a play we have seen hundreds of times, not inventing some new nefarious cheese. When a keeper does get sent off for that like the South African keeper in the WC (for a somewhat unorthodox and agressive "spread out") there is a big stink.

The other thing is that DOGSO is applied rigorously to professionals due to their high level of skill and understanding of the game. It should be applied the same way towards youth. That is, commensurate with their skill and understanding of the game.

Sounds like maybe your league's keepers haven't all learned to go to ground and pounce on the ball. Ironically, lack of technique would suggest an absense of guile as well;-)

Anyway I certainly don't mean to second-guess plays based on a 3 word description. But you asked for opinions and my opinion is DGF keeper sends off ought to be unusual, so it's a good place to start your mental reexamination/calibrations.

 

Last year I worked a tournament where the assignor was told by the runners not to give any Female referees boys games over 13. I made a commitment so I did the tournament, with a very experienced female official doing all four lines, she is definitely better than me. I will never do that tournament again, and I hope any good female officials will also drop that tournament because it's complete BS.

The worst part is when they brought in the coaches that organized the tournament, and fawned all over them.