I had my U8s at a tournament last weekend.  One of my 2 main strikers scored a great goal and as 8 yr olds do proceeded to expend tons of energy running around clebrating his goal.  What he then did though was pull his shirt up over his face baring his stomach.  He did not take the shirt off.  The referee, who I felt was old enough and experienced enough to handle it differently, gave my player a yellow card.  I wasn't overly bothered but - #1, I felt there isn't a need to card an 8 yr old (talk to him).  In fact, that's the only yellow card I've seen this year in any game.  #2 is that I thought the rule was the shirt had to be completely removed. 

I spoke to the ref after the game to see if he'd maybe not write it in the game report but he refused and when I questioned the rule, he took great offence that I thought I knew better than he did.  He just said "you won 5-1, your kid broke a rule and he will now know not to do that again".  Fair enough.

Now I'd prefer that my kids didn't do these stupid things obviously (they get it from TV) because it can be viewed as showing up the opposition and it just looks idiotic.  But they're just young kids.  If my same player had got another yellow in our next game, he would have missed the semi final which would have been crushing for an 8 yr old.

So...

1) What's the official rule on this lunacy?

2) Should very young kids be shown yellow cards?

I should note that I have seen a boy ejected from a game against us for persistent two-footed challenges.  Very dangerous actually and the boy had obviously not been taught anything about tackling.  The ref in that case I thought handled it superbly.  He simply took the boy and marched him over to his bench and told the coach not to play him again the rest of the game.  I thought that was fair enough.

Gav

Coach - U8 Boys (Toronto, Canada)

There are 2 things I wanted generate discussion with here.  One, was the rule itself which I admittedly don't know (nobody did silly stuff when I played).  The second was what are people's opinions on referees actually showing yellow/red cards to boys as young as U8?

I want to be clear this was nothing to do with arguing with a ref and I'm not referee bashing.  I don't do that.  Ever.  Especially with young boys behind me on the bench.  I'm no different from most though in that I can have instant emotional reactions to things on the pitch.  When the shirt thing happened, in fact, we kind of laughed on the bench about it and it was something this kid had never done and he'd scored about 23 times in the season.  I asked the ref about the situation an hour or so after the game (between tournament games) over at the scoring tent where the refs hang out!

What got me thinking about the rule itself was I see players carded for pulling the shirt right off (and righfully so).  But I don't recall seeing players carded for pulling the shirt over their face which is what this kid did.  Whatever the case, my kid has learned a lesson and I'd prefer he celebrate his goals the old fashioned way!

On referees carding players this young...  my opinion on the face of it, is that it's not needed.   A yellow card is essentially a caution.  Why not caution a young boy/girl simply by talking to them or warning them?  I think physically showing a card is getting overly officious at this level of play.  Kids get pretty emotional when they are singled out and in trouble.  Some think a yellow card is the end of the world.  I have seen several times at U10 level even referees brandish yellow cards to the letter of the law and the poor kid is in tears and needs to be taken off (in my example, I took my player off to speak to him but he wasn't uspet).  Why not just speak to them?  We are supposed to be helping them develop as players - especially so from U7 to U11.  They can still learn the rules of fair play and so on without the school headmaster treatment.

So my argument as such is for the refs to apply some common sense/leniency at young age groups and leave the cards at home.  Lastly, I'll say that most referees we see here at the U8 competetive level (my team's league) don't flash cards and I'm grateful for that.

Gav

Coach - U8 Boys (Toronto, Canada)

I just attended a recert ref course and there was a video clip shown where the player did not take his shirt off but pulled it up. He was carded and the person running course, a very high level official, said it was absolutely correct. So I think the card was acceptable.

As for giving it to an 8 year old.  Personally I think that the player could have been told the rule, and warned not to do it again. I think to expect coaches to tell 8 year olds all the rules is ridiculous and therefore the player almost certainly didn't know the rule. I personally (having been a ref for over 35 years) would not have carded the player. As for cards for 10 and unders, I think there are so many times that they can be avoided by talking to players, but no matter there again persistent infringements (usually when dangerous play is involved) needs to be addressed. As far as giving red cards, personally I would never issue a red card to a young player on the field. I would go over the coach, tell the coach to take the player off the field because he had 'earned' a red card, then go back to the middle of the field and raise the red card. I would never raise the red card in front of a young player. I think doing it the way I described is much better. You also never give a card to any player who is laying on the ground.

As far as the ref's reaction to you, I think he was out of line. For a start I don't think refs should ever be rude or disrespectful to a coach or a player. He should have calmly explained his decision to you, explained the rule (or his interpretation of the rule) and be polite. I realize that refs are constantly bombarded by parents, coaches, and at the older age groups by players, but they have to realize they are in charge, they have cards, and can issue them if they need to. there is no need to ever disrespect a player, parent, or coach. Everything should be handled with dignity and respect. Refs should also have thicker shin and stop reacting to parents who yell from the sidelines. They all have opinions and unless they are verbally abusive (and by that I mean swearing) then refs need to ignore them, not react to them. I often just give a look in the direction of parents if they shout at me, just to acknowledge I heard them, but I never get into any debate with them, shout back, or explain my decision. if I feel I need to explain a decision I will do so to players or coaches. Parents always have an opinion and they are usually opposite depending on which team they are supporting.

In summary, there are laws of the game that refs need to uphold and not compromise on, but there are many that they can interprete and certainly when giving cards they usually have discretion. I don't think most 8 year olds know rules like over celebrating, and perhaps at that age they need to be able to celebrate a little more than when they are older.