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Alabama High School Soccer Undergoes Eligibility Rule Changes
Changes in the penalties for Alabama High School soccer players receiving misconducts have had very little effect on the numbers and types of cards issued during the 1997 and 1998 Alabama high school soccer seasons (note: high soccer is a spring sport in Alabama). Although ineligibility penalties for yellow cards were eliminated, there was a slight increase in the number of yellow cards issued per game in 1997, but the number of yellow cards issued per game in 1998 was almost equivalent to 1996. At the same time, revised red card (includes red/yellow cards) penalties seemed to have very little effect on the number of. red cards (ejections) issued per game.
During the 1996 spring season and for several years prior, penalties for Alabama high school soccer players receiving misconducts were as follows: the first accumulation of three yellow cards – ineligible for the next game; the second accumulation of three yellow cards – ineligible for the next two games; the third accumulation of three yellow cards – ineligible for the remainder of the season; the first red card – ineligible for the next game; the second red card – ineligible for the next two games; and the third red card – ineligible for the remainder of the season.
For the 1997 and 1998 seasons, soccer eligibility rules regarding a misconduct were changed to conform to the rules in effect for other high school sports. All penalties for yellow cards were eliminated. The red card (or red/yellow) penalties are as follows: a player’s first red card – the principal at the player’s school receives a warning from the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA); a second red card – the player is ineligible for the next game; and a third red card – the player is ineligible for the remainder of the season.
Prior to 1997, misconduct card totals had to be kept by each team, and the coach was responsible for enforcing the penalty. With the new rules, the referee who gives the ejection must submit a report to the AHSAA, and the AHSAA is responsible for informing the school and seeing that the penalty is enforced.
In 1996, 649 game reports were sent by the head referee in each contest to this writer. In these 649 games, there were 545 yellow cards and 104 red cards given out. This resulted in an average of .84 yellow cards and .16 red cards per game.
In 1997, 513 game reports were submitted. In these 513 games, there were 486 yellow cards and 71 red cards awarded, resulting in an average of .95 yellow cards and .14 red cards for game.
In 1998, 747 game reports were submitted. In these 747 games, there were 612 yellow cards and 113 red cards. This resulted in an average of .82 yellow cards and .15 red cards for game.
As reported above, except for a slight increase in the number of yellow cards given in 1997, the change in the penalties given to players who receive red and yellow cards has had little effect on the average number of red and yellow cards given per game. Although there has been little change in the average number of cards given, there has been considerable criticism about the revised penalties from Alabama referees about the penalty changes.
In giving their opinion about the revised changes to the penalties for players receiving yellow and red cards, the following are some of the statements that were expressed:
1 “The penalty for yellow cards was too harsh under the old system, so I often refrained from giving out a yellow card.”
2 “Giving out a red card means that I will have to take the time to submit a report that will be sent to the school principal, who may then penalize the whole team. It makes me now reconsider if a red card is really necessary.”
3 “Recently, the overtime period for a tie game was changed from two ten-minute regular time and two five-minute sudden victory overtime periods to two ten-minute sudden victory overtime periods. This decrease in game time could have had an effect on the number of cards awarded per game.”
4 “If officials would have turned in game reports for all the games played, the results might have been different.”
5 “The changes were good, because schools do a good job in taking action against players who are ejected from games”
What are your feelings concerning player eligibility penalties for red and/ or yellow cards? Please let this writer know. E-mail: Joeman@USSA-SPORT.USSA.edu
Editor’s Comments: Dr. Joe Manjone is the Alabama State High School Association Soccer rules interpreter. He is also the region V soccer officials’ representative for the National Intercollegiate Soccer Officials’ Association. He is a National High School soccer clinician, and has been officiating high school soccer since 1959.
Portable Defibrillators Protect Fans, Players at High School Athletic Events
In big cities, sports arenas are among the top five places where sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) occurs-but what about towns that don’t have major league stadiums? If little league or the varsity squad is the only game in town, that’s where the people will go, and that’s where SCA will happen.
SCA is one of the most common causes of death in the US, claiming about 325,000 lives each year. Until relatively recently, treatment for SCA-an electrical shock known as defibrillation-was usually administered either in a hospital or by emergency medical service (EMS) personnel. Innovative communities are looking for ways to improve access to defibrillation. They are equipping firefighters, police-and now high school coaches and athletic trainers-with automated external defibrillators (AEDs), allowing them to provide critical treatment before EMS arrives. The leading seller in the field is the LIFEPAK® 500 AED, manufactured by Medtronic Physio-Control of Redmond, Wash.
Unlike the models of defibrillators intended for use by paramedics, nurses and doctors, AEDs do not require extensive medical knowledge to understand or operate. The expertise needed to analyze the heart’s electrical function is programmed into the device, enabling trained professionals to respond to cardiac emergencies. For more information about Medtronic Physio-Control, visit the company’s website at http://www.physiocontrol.com.
Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Systems Survey
36.4% of high school students
smoked cigarettes during the past month, while 16.7% smoked cigarettes
on 20 or more days during the past month, and 9.3% used smokeless
tobacco.
Only 29.3% of high school students
ate five or more servings of fruits and vegetables during the
past day. 4.5% took laxatives or vomited to lose weight during
the past month. 4.9% had taken diet pills to lose weight during
the past month.
63.8% of high school students
did vigorous physical activity three or more days during the
past week. 20.4% did moderate physical activity five or more
days during the past week. 48.8% were enrolled in physical education
class. 27.4% attended physical education class daily.
–Center for Disease Control, based on a survey by the 1997 Youth
Risk Behavior Surveillance Systems survey.
International Physical Fitness Test
FOREWARD
The United States Sports Academy, in cooperation with the Supreme Council for Youth and Sport, presents the Arab world with its own International Physical Fitness Test Manual based on norms collected and processed on Arab youth, ages 9 to 19. This fitness test is one of the few developed outside the Western world and is believed to be the only such test battery that measures the basic components of all physical activity, i.e. speed, strength, suppleness, and stamina.
This test was introduced to 199 physical education teachers by Dr. Thomas P. Rosandich on 15 January 1977 in Manama. This test was initially developed by the International Committee for Physical Fitness Testing in Tokyo in 1964 at which time Dr. Rosandich served that committee as its first secretary.
On January 16, this two-day test battery, made up of the 50-meter sprint, standing long jump, grip strength, 1000-meter run, 30-second sit-up, pull-up, 10-meter shuttle run, and trunk flexion, was administered to 500 boys of the Manama Secondary School. The test was coordinated by Dr. Bob Grueninger, Director of Fitness and Research and administered by him and Dr. Bob Ford, Dr. Lawrence Bestmann, Vic Godfrey, James Kampen, Bruce Mitchell, and Larry Nosse, along with their counterparts, the inspectors and teachers of the Ministry of Education.
The Academy faculty and its counterparts eventually tested over 20,000 boys and girls, but not before the components of the test were re-evaluated and modified to better reflect the environment in which it was delivered. The initial test information was presented by Dr. Rosandich and Dr. Grueninger at the First Middle East Sports Science Symposium (MESS I) in April of 1977. The physical performance tables were developed in coordination with the Academy team in Bahrain and the Chairman of Fitness and Research at the Academy’s home office in Mobile, Alabama, then located on the campus of the University of South Alabama. Instrumental in developing these tables were two computer experts, Dr. George Uhlig and Dr. Bill Gilley, both members of the Academy’s National Faculty.
During MESS II, in April of 1978, the Academy did a special study to evaluate the I.C.P.F.T. battery for possible revision. The Academy coaching team in Bahrain was joined by Dr. Richard Berger, Temple University, and Dr. Bob Stauffer, United States Military Academy, both members of the Untied States Sports Academy’s National Faculty. This combined team tested the Bahrain Defense Force personnel and reached the following conclusions, which in essence are reflected in this test manual.
1. The test battery was changed from a two-day test battery to a one-day battery for purposes of efficiency and because the test administered over two days in the heat of the Middle East impacted severely upon the individual students and their second-day performances.
2. The test battery was reduced from eight components to five components that reflected effectively those components needed in sport and eliminated costly equipment such as the hand dynamometer, that often malfunctioned in field testing.
The test battery is as follows:
1. 50-meter test, relative power, speed
2. Pull-up, relative strength, strength
3. 10-meter shuttle run, relative power, speed and suppleness
4. Back throw, absolute power, speed and suppleness
5. 1,000-meter run, aerobic/anaerobic capacity, stamina
The above test was coordinated by Dr. Grueninger and Dr. Gary Hunter with over 20,000 Bahraini children tested. The results of this test are found in this manual and were presented for the first time internationally by Dr. Rosandich during the Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand, in December of 1978. Subsequently, the test battery was adopted in more than 21 nations. Since the initial presentation, the test has been modified by replacing the pull-up with the flexed-arm hang based on data collected in neighboring Saudi Arabia.
During MESS III, in April of 1979, the leadership of the International Committee for Physical Fitness Research, including the organization’s president, Dr. Ladislav Novak, and members, Dr. Leonard Larson (USA), Dr. Roy Shepherd (Canada), and Dr. Ishiko (Japan), attended the symposium, as observers of Bahrain’s leadership role in physical fitness, research and sport medicine. Bahrain, under the leadership of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sport, developed not only the finest sport medicine and research centers found in the Middle East but also programs reflecting research, such as this Physical Fitness Test Manual. Thus, the I.C.P.F.T. named Bahrain its research center for the Middle East. Subsequently, the Arab Sport Medicine Council moved its headquarters from Tunisia to Bahrain, which is yet another indication of Bahrain’s leadership in fitness and research.
The Academy has been privileged to work with the Supreme Council for Youth and Sport — now known as the General Organization of Youth and Sport — and its many constituencies, e.g. the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Interior, and the Ministry of Defense, in the development of this International Physical Fitness Test, which in fact is a major contribution to the world of sport education.
The Sun May Set at Last Over the Union
This past week on campus at the United States Sports Academy we had Tan Sri Dato’ Elyas Omar, the former Lord Mayor of Kuala Lumpur, the magnificent capital city of Malaysia, to receive an honorary doctorate during our 26th Annual Graduation Celebration.
Dato’ Elyas served for more than a decade as the Lord Mayor of Kuala Lumpur and was perceived to be the second most powerful man in Malaysia next to the Prime Minister. He had a rather unlimited budget during the heyday of Malaysia, when they were showing a national growth of nearly 20% per year. He built the very beautiful city of Kuala Lumpur, a mix between Asian and Western architecture, into a bustling capital city with buildings that are the highest in Asia, and a fast transit system that takes the people from one end of the city to the other, over the bustling streets of bazaars. He maintained the beauty of the traditional British railway stations, except this one features Islamic architecture, which is not what one would see in Victoria station in London. The same is true with many of the buildings including City Hall, the Parliament and the Selangor Sports Club in the heart of the city.
Tan Sri Dato Elyas Omar is a great sport enthusiast who built a sport complex equal to no other in the world. It is capable of hosting a major international competition, including the Commonwealth Games that will commence 10 September 1998. He not only built the sport complex but, in collaboration with the United States Sports Academy, led Malaysia’s badminton team to the world title (The Thomas Cup) in 1995. More importantly, he led the bid for hosting the 1998 Commonwealth Games which is a reflection of the British Empire Games that was started in 1930. It was often written before the start of World War II that the sun would never set on the Union Jack (the name for the British flag) in the British Empire. This Empire virtually disintegrated with the invasion of Asia by the Japanese Imperial Armies in the early 40’s. However, the last of the great British Empire in the Far East came to a halt with the transfer of ownership of Hong Kong to the Peoples Republic of China in July 1997.
The Commonwealth Games is often called the Friendly Games because the early structure of the competition focused on individual performances rather than team competitions. How can anyone imagine there would be an international competition developed by the British without football (soccer) or even cricket, as that was and has been the structure of the Games until this year.
Malaysia is the first Asian country (Third World) that has hosted these competitions. Many people have been more than concerned. From the beginning there has been an ill wind (ghost wind called ungan in Malaysian) blowing hot and cold. It is made up of traditional British games with players all dressed in white suit and tie, who “out snooker” one another by bowling iron balls on a grass surface maintained to the quality of a golf green one would find at Augusta, Georgia. If you wish, you can take in a friendly game of squash and, of course, tennis, given the Wimbledon tradition, as well as a wide variety of traditional British sports that one would watch while enjoying afternoon tea and cucumber sandwiches on the veranda.
The general prediction from the Western world is that the Commonwealth Games in Malaysia are heading for dire straits even though it had an unlimited budget and the Director of Games (the former Chief of Staff of the Army), who is the brother-in-law of Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad. Incidentally, he is as anti-American as anyone can be, particularly since Malaysia has gone through an economic nosedive, like all of Asia during the past year.
As always in Southeast Asia, whether it be the current financial crisis or anything else, there are always confrontations between the countries that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Alarm bells are going off on many fronts even though the Malaysians are doing everything in their power to muffle the problems, from facilities to the difficulties they are currently facing with Indonesian immigrant workers who are being abused in Malaysia. This could well boil over into the world’s hottest and stickiest capitals (where on a good day, one needs to change shirts at least three times a day).
There have been some concerns about the athletes who oftentimes end up on the low end of the totem pole in most international competitions, particularly as it relates to the heat and the very high and dangerous levels of smog in Malaysia – a result of the on-going forest fires that have affected the region for most of this past year.
The fires that continue to burn in Borneo were set by the Indonesian leadership to clear the forest for agriculture. The Australian and New Zealand doctors indicate that the athletes may have to wear masks during the competitions. However, the Malaysians are promising that the smog will not reappear. This is hard to imagine since the fires are burning underground in Borneo and there is no way to put them out. I cancelled my last trip a year ago to the SEA Games in Jakarta because of the smog, but I will be going to Malaysia in the coming weeks as a credentialed VIP to observe this competition.
The Games now includes two team sports, rugby but not football and, of course, at long last the friendly game of cricket. New Zealand, Australia, and the Fiji Islands are among the best rugby nations in the world in which they rule as king of all sports. Cricket, of course, is part of the normal fare throughout the Old Empire, just like tea and crumpets.
We all hope that the prevailing winds that blow in September will cool the temperature, but it is clear that the superstars of the athletic world are more than likely the ones to be cooled toward the Friendly Games where the cash prizes are not there, making these Games something of an anachronism. Actually, the Friendly Games, founded during the days of the British Empire, no longer fits the image and philosophy or even the world sport schedules as it did in the days of the magnificent rubber plantations of Malaysia. Today’s competitors do not want to run for fun, like the old school bash that they had once a year. Simply, they want cash.
Secondly, the Friendly Games does not provide the global platform that sponsors seek, particularly now that it is being held within weeks of the World Cup in Soccer when the television budget has drained the sponsors. In fact, this Games will be held three weeks after the European Championships and in the middle of the IAAF Grand Prix Final in Moscow and the Track and Field World Cup in South Africa. The kicker on this whole Games format is, while one understands top track athletes running for money, the British are not sending either a cricket or a rugby team to this competition due to a long and tiring season.
The saving grace for the XVI Commonwealth Games, which may lack the superstar glamor, is that the Malaysians will no question put on a superb spectacle. Despite the economic turmoil, this will be the largest Commonwealth Games ever held, with more than 6,000 athletes from 67 nations utilizing 26 venues in and around Kuala Lumpur.
The Commonwealth Games is really run like a small town theater production. There are those who would like to see the event reshaped and stripped of its last vestiges of Colonialism to enter the arena like the Olympic Games, with all the top level competitive sports rather than adopting new programs like cricket. Meanwhile, there have been subtle political changes. Rather than having the Queen of England open the Games (as she has for the last 16), they will be opened by the King of Malaysia. The Queen has been relegated to the closing ceremonies.
In 1998 the Games in Malaysia is only the second time it has been held outside of the Mother Country and its dominions, e.g., Canada and Australia. The next Games is scheduled to be back in the UK in Manchester in 2002. It is clear that the alarm bells are going off a second time as Manchester has indicated it will have to scale down the Games unless the British government comes forth with a subsidy of nearly 40 million pounds, which is not likely to happen.
With the global sport picture becoming so congested, it may be that the Commonwealth Games as the British Empire knows and loves it has had its day in the sun with the Union Jack being hauled down maybe for the last time. The sad question is, is there anyone who really cares? Meanwhile Malaysians are undaunted by all these questions. They have already put their bid in for the next Summer Olympic Games following the Olympic motto — higher, further and faster. Good luck.