According to the Florida High School Athletic Association, denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity by handling the ball results in the offending player receiving a blue card and being dismissed from the match. The team of this player doesn’t have to play short. The offending player doesn’t get suspended from any other games. He’s simply disqualified from the match in which he committed the offense.
Receiving a second yellow card in one game doesn’t result in a red card either; although it does disqualify the player from that particular match.
So for you soccer fans out there scratching your head as to why the FHSAA would extrapolate from the generally accepted rules, let me further add to your confusion. Assistant referees don’t use flags; they use whistles.
So, it should come as no surprise that the ranking system for officials is rather arcane. In fact, to become a rank-one official (the highest), all one must do is be registered for 10 years, attend a field clinic, and score above a 90 percent on a test that marking A for every answer would score around a 75. Surprised?
During post-season play is about the only time game assignments strictly reflect the ranking system, but these are the best games. They deserve the best officials.
The United States Soccer Federation requires any official above grade eight (entry level) to receive a game assessment and pass a fitness test each year. High school officials do neither.
This would be unacceptable in amateur, college or professional games, and so should it be in high school.
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