Game Card Boxes.  I am passing on this message from Chuck Thompson, LYSL Staff:
You may want to pass along that the transportainers (boxes for nets, etc) and game card drop boxes have been moved or added at some fields.

• Kellman - one less game card drop box
• Croce - transportainer from Max Baer was moved to here and I think also a new game card drop box (there were many requests for a drop box here)
• Altamont Creek - new transportainer and new game card drop box
• Robert Livermore - transportainer has been moved to north end of field. LARPD has placed a container where LYSL's container used to be, this will probably be confusing for a while.
• Max Baer - new transportainer (same place as old) and game card drop box has been removed
• John Young told us that these changes should all be completed by the end of the week.
  There are no changes to Christiansen or Robertson.
• Other stuff:
  a) The locks on several of the boxes were difficult to open and the moving parts on most boxes were very rusty, so I have been oiling them with light machine oil. This should be done by tomorrow.
  b) People seem to have a habit of putting junk into the game card drop boxes. The worst are food wrappers. These attract bees, hornets and wasps. I got stung on the stomach and attacked by angry hornets at Robertson. Since then I have gotten some non-poisonous spray and treated all the drop boxes - you may have noticed a mint smell. I am cleaning the interior of the boxes as I have the time.
  c) Lots of refs are doing games at higher levels than they are rated. I admire their initiative and would like to add my praise for their efforts. I echo the sentiment in the recent newsletter that coach and spectator harassment of any form should not be tolerated. After an incident 3 seasons back, our daughter will not officiate any longer. We loose too many hard working refs this way.
  d) I have gotten lists of team names and levels of play from about half the AGCs. This information has been passed to John Hinton so that the schedules and assignments can reflect this information. I needed this information to help interpret the game cards and assign referee credit. (Nearly all game cards are incomplete in some way. Many of the game cards have wrong dates, wrong times, wrong age groups, or incorrect level of play.)
  e) Nearly 300 game cards have been processed to date which includes August and September games. An export was made to Michelle the treasurer, she should be ready any time now to start processing checks for youth referees.
  f) Game cards are sorted into class 1, 3, 4 groups each week. Priority for processing is given to class 1,3 cards. The class 1 (Diane Scott) and class 3 (Dave Phillips) cards are being picked up by LYSL reps on Wednesday evening for use in club meetings. No information on what should be done with the class 4 game cards, so these are being retained for the time being.
  Chuck Thompson

Keep a watchful eye!  John, please pass this note on to those referees doing Class 1 and Class 3 games. Recently during a pre-game inspection, the coaches tried to slip in an illegal player. The player was detected and the coaches still argued that he was the one on the roster and player pass. Luckily, one of the AR's knew the player and we made our decision stick. The player's pass and both coaches' passes were not given back to the team and were sent by the refs to the district with a report on the event.
I guess we really have to be very careful during inspection of the teams.
Ken Mitchell

A Memo from Esse Beharmast, USSF Director of Officials (September 18, 2000).  
To: All State Associations
From: Esse Baharmast, Director of Officials
Re: Systems of Officiating
Date: September 18, 2000
The United States Soccer Federation has approved only one system for officiating outdoor matches, namely the "diagonal system of control." The diagonal system of control consists of one referee and two assistant referees. In order to comply with the Laws of the Game, adopted by the National Council (by law 104), all soccer games sanctioned directly or indirectly by member organizations of the United States Soccer Federation must employ the diagonal system (three officials). As a matter of policy, the National Referee Committee prefers the following alternatives, in order of preference:
1. One registered Federation referee and two registered Federation Assistant Referees (the standard all organizations should strive to meet).
2. One registered Federation referee, one registered Federation Assistant Referee and one club linesman.
3. One registered Federation Referee and two club linesmen, both unrelated to either team participating in the game.
4. One registered Federation and two club linesmen who are related to a participating team.
The last three (2, 3 & 4) should only be used when emergency conditions arise - when the assigned officials do not show up for the scheduled match. An emergency situation cannot be assigned in advance. If a team or league is assigning only one or two officials to a match, that team or league is not following proper procedure and is in violation of Federation policy. Except in emergency situations, officials assigned to affiliated matches not employing the diagonal system of control will not be covered by the Federation's liability insurance and those games may not be counted in the official's game experience record. Member organizations and their affiliates should make every effort to assist in recruiting officials so that enough Federation referees will be available to permit the use of the diagonal system of control for all their competitions.
(Editor's Note -- Bottom Line! Don't ever work a dual system of control when only two refereees show up for the match.)

ARTICLES

The Question.
NF rules make a point that a proper tackle is just that no matter where it comes from; front, side, back, whatever. However as a person with a fairly low game count please help me out. On tackles from behind specifically. If a tackle from behind is attempted, poorly executed and ends up being a trip, how do you draw the line as to whether it is a trip and a DFK or SFP and a two game vacation?

The Answer.
Your observation of the action should enable you to "draw the line." Was the player who performed the tackle:
Careless? Was he attempting to tackle the ball but for poor timing or execution tackle his opponent in a non-violent manner? Did his opponent trip because he made physical contact with feet, legs, or body? Direct Free Kick
Reckless? Did you believe he was targeting his opponent and not the ball, resulting in his tripping his opponent in a non-violent manner? Are you convinced that this was not an attempt to injure his opponent? Direct Free Kick and Caution/Yellow Card
Use excessive force? Do you believe that his intention was to injure the player, or you believe he performed the tackle in a violent manner? Direct Free Kick and Send Off/Red Card

Be aware that not every situation where an opponent falls to the ground or stumbles is a foul. If, for example, the player attempting the tackle completely misses the ball AND his opponent, and the opponent subsequently trips over his outstretched legs or body, generally no foul has been committed. The referee, however, must be certain that the player who attempted the tackle did nothing by means of raising legs, hooking feet, grasping with arms, etc., to cause his opponent to trip.
Also on slide tackles, defender slides in and pushes the ball out to the side, his momentum carries him under the attacker who ends up on his face with both feet caught in the defender. I have heard everything from "once the ball is gone, everyone is on their own" to "tripping after a good tackle is no different than any other trip". A little wisdom from experience would be greatly appreciated.
If, in performing a tackle, (or any other player action, for that matter) and in his follow-through commits what would be a foul under any normal circumstance, a foul has indeed been committed. The referee may, of course, decide that the contact is trifling or may apply advantage if it is the best interests of the offended team and in the referee's opinion will not compromise player- or match-control, or the safety of a player. The well-beaten horse "I got all ball" is all bull. Players want you to allow them to gain possession of the ball by any means, regardless of the result of their actions. Players will love you (when it is to their benefit).
Referees who accept the rather flimsy argument of "once the ball is gone, everyone is on their own" are either very weak in foul identification or in courage. Referees cannot fulfill their duty to protect players from injury caused by illegal actions if they cannot or will not sanction (either immediately or at the next stoppage) such actions.
Referees must be careful to be certain that an actual foul has occurred if they adhere to the thought that "tripping after a good tackle is no different than any other trip." Be certain the trip was a result of the player's actions (physical contact caused when the speed of the tackle actually carries the player into his opponent's legs, the whip of the player's legs continues into his opponent's legs, or if the player lifts his leg(s) and by lifting them catches his opponent's legs) causing the trip. If one or more of these things have happened, a foul has occurred.
Whether you call it depends upon your decision that the action was careless, reckless, or involved excessive force (violence) and whether advantage is appropriate. In most cases, if you allow advantage it is very wise to be seen at least "discussing" the trip with the player who committed the foul if you do not caution or send them off.