I find this hilariously funny!
David Beckham got sent off from a youth soccer match:
“It was the younger kids of Romeo’s club, and they’re playing in the game and there was a penalty given. And the kids are 7 years old and he sent the kid off.” After that, Beckham, who has seen his share of red cards in his career (including a crucial one in a World Cup match against Argentina in 1998), did what so many parents of youth soccer players have done — he opened his mouth.
“And I was like, ‘Come on, he’s 7 years old, Referee, you can’t send him off.’ And he looked at me and was like, ‘Yes, I can.’ And I was like, ‘O.K., well, you can’t, he’s 7 years old.’ And he came over and gave me a red card. He told me to get out of the park. For real.
#refereewin. Can you imagine the next time he’s chatting with other refs at a tournament? “Oh yeah? Well I sent David Beckham off!” Of course, it’s even more likely that the ref had no idea who he was!
Loading...
February 9th, 2012 at 7:11 am
Question is – what would a 7 year old do that would force a red card?
I never have seen anything in a U8 match that would necessitate even a yellow card.
February 12th, 2012 at 7:56 pm
Well….if the player denied an obvious goal scoring opportunity, that would usually constitute a penalty and a send off.
We’ve had this debate locally after a U9 player (who plays goalie sometimes) attempted to throw the ball out of the goal (as a field player) after the opponent beat the keep and the ball was going in the goal. The ref called for the penalty and the player was sent off.
In this case, the ref followed the letter of the law, but he got a hard time cuz the kids was U9.
February 15th, 2012 at 1:18 pm
IMO calling DOGSO is pretty rough until around U11/U12. Most younger kids don’t go into the rules in that depth, and probably a lot of the volunteers that coach young teams don’t even know about the rule.
As a ref, when I have had DOGSO situations come up for U9/U10 I just caution and give a stern talking to. 99% of the time it is a PK anyways, which is sufficient to bring the game back into an equilibrium of justice and satiate the blood lust of the parents.
That said, IMO, the problem with younger games is that the refs need to give out MORE red cards. Too often refs just stand there and watch horrifically dangerous challenges as if they are thinking to themselves “Awwww, isn’t it cute when they fall!”
March 4th, 2012 at 8:16 pm
Kids aren’t devious enough to warrant getting a red card before U10. Of course, the ref does have a story for the rest of his days.
March 13th, 2012 at 3:41 pm
Croyus and Dennis, you must not have watched many U7/U8 games. Enough 6 and 7 year old kids play soccer that the player population is representative of all 6 and 7 year old kids, and a small percentage of all kids are sociopaths with no empathy or conscience.
It definitely is very rare, and maybe instead of doing the offical showing of the card thing you just tell the coach to sub the player and talk with him on the sideline about what he is doing wrong. But still it is there. And it is definitely true that the young refs that often get assigned to the games (if it is not the coaches reffing) don’t call enough fouls and take control of the game.
There was a horrific challenge during a U8 game I was coaching. One of my players, a small female on the young end of the age group was on the ball. An boy on the other team on the older end of the age group charged from about 10 yards away, and at full speed dove in cleats first, both feet, knee high, landing on the ball with his tail bone. It was ridiculous. My player saw him and half hopped out of the way at the last second and still got flipped head over heels and ended up with a gash on her knee that required stitches.
The referee DID NOT EVEN CALL A FOUL!
March 13th, 2012 at 3:42 pm
Oh, and don’t forget about this:
http://www.despair.com/goals.html