Soccer Risks Being Banned from CIF

High school soccer, consider this your yellow card.

 The CIF-Southern Section, which oversees 581 schools from San Luis Obispo to the Mexican border, has issued a warning saying unless soccer addresses its poor sportsmanship it will be put on probationary status. This action could be as severe as eliminating postseason play for a year.

 Despite its rogue reputation, high school soccer is thriving in Southern California. According to the CIF Southern Section, 80 percent of its member schools – more than 400 high schools – field boys and girls teams.

But here’s why soccer has the high school athletics powers that be seeing red.

• Soccer has garnered more ejections, red cards and incidents of inappropriate behavior than all other CIF-sanctioned sports combined.
• 787 ejection reports on student-athletes this season
• 82 ejection reports on coaches
• 8 student-athletes banned from interscholastic competition for the remainder of their high school eligibility, all for assaulting an official

And the CIF points the finger at everyone, from the student-athletes and the coaches to the parents and even the school administrators who don’t police the sport as aggressively as CIF would like.

 “We’re delighted so many students participate in a sport that is rigorous and demanding,” the CIF report stated. “One would think that the sport is enjoying strong, positive support from our school administrators. That is not necessarily true."

Soccor has a record of being the most volatile in the CIF, according to the report. “Soccer garners more ejections, red cards and incidents of inappropriate behavior than any other sport. In fact, we’ve seen more ejections and red cards than all our sports combined," stated the report.

A number of factors contribute to the aggression, said Diamond Ranch girls soccer coach Victoria Hengtes, who is also a member of the CIF Coaches Advisory Committee. 

First and foremost, soccer is a contact sport. The combination of an aggressive sport with such close proximity of fans and parents to the action made soccer games even more volatile, some coaches said. Hentges includes parents that taunt officials and opposing players, students who show no respect for officials and coaches who do not control or discipline a player that is showing overly aggressive behavior. 

“I definitely think something needs to be done about the parents,” Hengtes said. “I’ve had issues with parents yelling at other athletes on our team. When one parent started making very rude comments to other children, administration had to step in."

The problem with parents got worse in recent years, he said. “The parenting aspect is getting worse and they are less and less respectful, which in turn, their kids see. There are too many parents of this generation that don’t respect what the coaches are doing.”

In turn, the CIF has concerns for the safety and well-being of its officials. Eight assaults on officials is startling and not acceptable, CIF officials said.

“Our officials are a valuable resource: they work under difficult circumstances,” the CIF report stated. “Most officials work because they love the game and the student-athletes who play. They should not fear for their safety during the conduct of a game, no matter how important the outcome to the participants.”

Because officials are often subject to verbal abuse, they appear uncommunicative if they choose not to respond to coaches’ inquiries during a game. Hengtes also cites a language barrier, as some of the officials do not speak English. But blame for the inappropriate behavior falls on coaches as well.

“Coaches often become heated and sometimes berate the officials, which only serves to incite spectators,” the CIF report states. “Many times games are conducted on campus without administrative supervision. These factors contribute to a difficult situation for our sport managers and our officials.”

Two years ago, the Southern Section implemented a system to track inappropriate conduct by teams. If a school team generates four red cards – for overly aggressive play or for foul language, for example – in the course of a season excluding soft reds – when a player gets two yellows, which make a red – that team will be placed on probation that ultimately can affect entry into playoffs.

The sport was once placed on probationary status in the Section; we fear we may be headed in the same direction in the future, CIF officials said.