In soccer ejections, boys lead

Apparently, a lot of hotheads play soccer. Either that, or soccer officials have very thin skin.

At least, that's the conclusion one might come to if you look at the number of players ejected from boys soccer games. Since 2000, more boys have been ejected from prep games than any other sport, according to the Utah High School Activities Association's ejection report.

The problem is, the numbers don't tell the whole story.

My colleagues who cover soccer on a regular basis say the reason there are more soccer ejections is because it's easier to get tossed from a soccer game than any other contest. Two yellow cards, which are given for all kinds of frowned-on behaviors, like fouling too much or too hard, equal one red card, which means, "You're outta here!"

The question I have is why the numbers for ejections are so much higher for boys than girls.

Last year 80 boys were tossed from prep soccer games, while only 16 girls were ejected. In 2004-05, 102 boys were kicked out of games, while nine girls were asked to leave the field. Interestingly, last year 12 girls coaches were ejected, while only eight boys coaches were tossed.

A few coaches told me the difference is simply testosterone. Boys are more physical and therefore more likely to do something that irks the officials.

Boys did seem to be more disagreeable across the board, according to the report, with 28 baseball players being ejected from games last year as compared to zero softball players. (There were six softball coaches thrown out of games last year, but that's nothing compared to 23 baseball coaches being asked to leave.) In 2004-05, one softball player was ejected as compared to 20 baseball players.

Even in basketball it's true. Last year 20 boys were ejected, while four girls were thrown out of games. In 2004-05, nine girls and eight girls coaches were ejected, while 28 boys and 21 boys coaches were thrown out of the gym.

Volleyball hasn't had a player or coach ejected since 2003-04, while only a couple of athletes each year are asked to leave wrestling matches.

So are officials more picky when it comes to soccer etiquette? Or do the numbers really indicate soccer players are more unsportsmanlike than other athletes?

After speaking with a number of soccer coaches and soccer writers, I'm willing to buy that soccer ejections aren't the same type of incident that they are in basketball or football.

One soccer coach said red-card ejections are so frequent, it's a normal part of the game and may indicate bad timing or bad luck, but they rarely indicate a player is a poor sport.

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E-mail: adonaldson@desnews.com