High school soccer has a problem — and ejections aren’t slowing it down

I’ve grown concerned with the number of ejections in high school soccer.

This column follows the Carson and Bishop Manogue boys soccer game that had three players ejected in a five-minute span Wednesday, but the issue is much larger than one game.

A shoving match resulted in an ejection for each side before a second Miner player was ejected moments later for a careless tackle on a Senator attacker sprinting in on net.

All three players will be suspended for their next game, but from the amount of ejections I’ve seen in the past few years, the punishment is clearly not enough of a deterrent.

I don’t know why getting ejected has become acceptable in the prep soccer scene, but it absolutely has.

The NIAA collects ejection information and I’m willing to bet high school soccer leads the way by quite a margin.

It doesn’t seem to matter who the coaches are as ejections have continued to happen all around the league.

WHERE’S THE ACCOUNTABILITY? 

High school sports are designed to set an example for kids to follow in the future.

When games get out of hand, I just see blame passed from coaches to officials and vice-versa.

Wednesday after the game concluded, a member of the Bishop Manogue coaching walked out past midfield to chastise the officials, saying they “got their certification from a cereal box.”

If adults can’t set a quality example from the sidelines, they shouldn’t be coaching at all. End of story.

I’ve heard plenty of blame shifted onto referees for letting games get out of hand and not being stricter with foul calls early on.

While I can grant that argument some merit, the onus to have athletes play under control does not lie only under the purview of the officials.

Soccer is a physical sport, but so are many others and they do not have ejection rates nearly like soccer.

Coaches have to show by example that ejections will not be tolerated.

Clearly, the one-game suspension for an ejection is not enough of a deterrent.

Neither is having ejected athletes complete a sportsmanship course before returning to play.

When seniors are getting thrown out on Senior Night or players are getting tossed for blatantly knocking players down away from the play, it becomes obvious the punishment isn’t enough of a impediment for bone-headed decisions.  

You’ll hear coaches disagree with the decision to eject a player, but again, with the rate of ejection across the sport that argument doesn’t carry much water. 

These ejections are happen too frequently for it to be a difference in opinion.

WHAT’S THE ANSWER?

I wish there was a better solution than increasing suspensions, but at the moment it seems like the only way to make an impact.

The point of prep sports is to play and if there’s no fear of getting ejected or being taken off the field, then it’s time for the consequences to escalate.

Let me be clear, it isn’t just a boys soccer problem, either. I’ve covered games where fistfights have broken out in the girls ranks, too.

So many of the ejections I’ve witness are careless and acts of retaliation.

It doesn’t matter that there is a referee looking right at the play, it hasn’t stopped games from escalating into physical violence and punches being thrown.

This occurs at the junior varsity level, too, as several matches have turned to fisticuffs, nearing brawls.

Ejections — adult or player — have no place in youth sports and only tarnish the entire purpose of playing the game in the first place.

I want young athletes to have every chance to step on the field possible, but at what point do we draw a line?

This kind of behavior isn’t acceptable in other prep sports so why is it okay in soccer?