[Nevadaref]

Originally posted by Mark Dexter

I don't know about the current rules, but when I managed a HS soccer team (also 4 years ago), if you got a red card for two cautions, the team didn't have to play a man down.

First we must understand that soccer is played under two entirely different sets of rules. There are the NFHS rules, which govern high school play, and then there is the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) Laws of the Game, which govern club play in the US and are quite similar to FIFA (the world governing body) Laws of the Game. The two groups are totally autonomous and have to connection with each other whatsoever. This means that there are cases where the rules of play differ vastly.

Both sets do use red and yellow cards. NFHS has a "soft red" (both the yellow and red cards are shown simultaneously) for receiving two yellows in a match or excessive celebration. (Taunting was also a "soft red" last year, but was just changed to a "hard red" for the upcoming season.) The player who receives the "soft red" is disqualified from that contest, but the team is NOT required to play a man down, which is case for a hard red. It is up to the state association whether the player must also sit out the next contest. In Nevada the player may play in the next game. We only make players sit for hard reds.

USSF and FIFA do not have the concept of a "soft red" and consequently also does not make reference to a "hard red." If a player receives two cautions (yellow cards) in the same match that equates to a red. That player is ejected from the match and his team plays a man down for the rest of the game.
USSF youth play is also governed on a state association basis (CA has two: North and South), but these groups have nothing to do with the HS associations. Almost all of them suspend a player for the next game for receiving an ejection. For adult amateur and professional play the league rules and governing board specify the suspension. Again almost all make an ejected player sit the next match.

At the professional level, cautions can accumulate over a period of league matches or during a tournament. For example, a player who receives a yellow card in his team's first match and then again in their third match, would not be ejected from either of those contests, but would have to miss their fourth match. This is the case for the World Cup. I like this rule as it significantly cuts down on rough play. I wish our state HS association would adopt this policy for league play.