Question Number: 22776

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 1/30/2010

RE: Competive High School

Ted of Page, Az USA asks...

What is the suspension of a soft yellow..?

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

A soft yellow is not a term in the NFHS rules. Did you mean a soft red?

A soft red is given when a player has received two yellow cards in one match, and it is soft, because it does not mean the team must play short. Your state high school association should have published any suspension rules regarding whether or not a player who receives a soft red must sit out any particular number of games or not.

Any red card, soft or otherwise, usually merits at least a one game suspension. I would be surprised to find any suspensions of more than one game for a soft red.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

High school rules do not address the suspension for cautions and disqualifications. That is determined by your local league. In my part of Southern California, a player who receives a red card for a second caution in the match (a so-called soft-red) will ordinarily receive a one match suspension.

Answer provided by Referee Tom Stagliano

Coach Ted

As my fellow referees (Maloney and Wickham) have indicated, under NFHS (high school) rules, a player who commits a cautionable misconduct, already having been cautioned earlier in that game, will be dismissed from the game but his/her team will be allowed to replace that player with a substitute.

In Massachusetts, all red cards (straight or soft) require the player or coach to miss the next two games. So, it depends upon the local high school association (typically statewide) to determine the number of games a player who is dismissed will miss.