The Ida B. Wells Guardians play against the Benson Tech Techmen in a high school boys soccer game on Oct. 23, 2023, in Portland, Ore. Ejections of players and coaches at high school boys soccer games increased the past two seasons from 137 to 198, according to the Oregon School Activities Association.
Courtesy of Portland Public Schools
After facing a shortage of referees and the need for more umpires, Oregon school sports are now facing a new issue: a dramatic increase in ejections.
Whether you know them as red cards or a player being benched, an ejection is when a student or coach is no longer allowed to participate in the game for the remainder of the day and is also suspended for the next game. What warrants an ejection varies, but it boils down to unsportsmanlike behavior, such as fighting, foul language and foul play.
According to the Oregon School Activities Association, ejections for high school boys soccer games went up 45% in the last year. For football, they’ve increased a whopping 75% in two years.
Michael Nolan is the athletic director at Ida B. Wells High School in Portland. He said he believes students aren’t fully to blame for this increase.
“I would make the argument that kids are sometimes influenced by what they see, maybe at a professional soccer match or somewhere else,” Nolan said.
Nolan also argued that newer, younger referees can be overly cautious.
“They want to make sure they’re doing the right thing … they’re tasked with looking at new behaviors and how to correct some of them, sometimes it’s right in the form of them. Therefore, they’re looking out for it more than ever before,” he said.
Any changes to OSAA’s current ejection policy would be made over the summer. Peter Weber, OSAA’s executive director, said he isn’t expecting any major overhaul, but there could be some tweaks to current rules.
“We are education-based and we want to train up, and make sure that we’re putting the students and coaches and the officials in positions where they can all have success,” Weber said.
Michael Nolan and Peter Weber joined OPB’s “Think Out Loud” to discuss the increase in sport ejections. You can listen to the full conversation here:
