The first Rules Interpreters Bulletin of the 2024-25 school year has been released, and the message from the Oregon School Activities Association is simple: referees must be comfortable with red cards.
This should come as no surprise to coaches and athletes in the state, as the OSAA has raised concerns about sportsmanship for some time. This summer, the OSAA Board of Directors revised the state association’s policies regarding sportsmanship to adopt stricter regulations regarding suspensions and treatment of sportsmanship issues.
Patrick Duffy, OSAA football rules interpreter, wrote in his bulletin that a “huge increase in red cards” in recent years has been cause for concern.
In about 5,700 high school football games in Oregon last year, 198 red cards were issued to boys and 27 to girls. Duffy added that the number of red cards issued to boys is a record for the state.
Duffy stressed that referees and coaches need to work together to reduce the number of sendings off in boys’ football, with referees being strict about common fouls and also stopping play immediately if there are reports of discriminatory language.
The 2023 fall season included a notable fight in the Class 4A playoff game between Cottage Grove and The Dalles that halted play for half an hour.
The OSAA is not only concerned about ejections in soccer. The number of ejections in football also reached an all-time high last year. There were also more ejections in wrestling and baseball.
In the 2023-24 school year, the number of expulsions in boys’ basketball, girls’ basketball, girls’ soccer and girls’ softball decreased.
– Nik Streng, [email protected], @NikStreng
