Recently, GHSA has strengthened the policy against unsportsmanlike behavior, with added powers to officials to solve the problem or terminate the match, if necessary.  The article below is from the Atlanta Journal Constitution.  The URL is: http://www.ajc.com/search/content/sports/highschool/stories/2007/04/24/0425hssoccer.html

Here is the text:

HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETICS

Foul language, dirty play stain soccer

By JOHN MANASSO
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 04/25/07

March 27 was a bad day — in a bad season — for high school soccer.

Thirty-three players received "red cards" for penalties that resulted in them being ejected from games. One coach was thrown out of a game, and officials ended a game before halftime because of unruly behavior.

JASON GETZ / AJC (ENLARGE)

Tim Wool, president of the Georgia Soccer Officials Association, follows the action as Brookwood's Christopher Goldsmith chases down the ball in a game Friday against Starr's Mill in Snellville.

All in one day.

The Georgia High School Association said an epidemic of behavior problems has led to 188 ejections involving metro Atlanta schools — 79 percent coming in boys games (as of April 17).

Officials expect ejections in soccer to surpass all other sports combined.

As the boys' state playoffs begin today, foul language, unruly spectators and coaches losing control of their teams have forced the GHSA to act.

Executive director Ralph Swearngin has empowered officials to gain greater control over matches, allowing them to clear the stands if necessary. To attack the problem of crowd behavior, the GHSA handed down new guidelines in midseason.

"We want to take a twofold measure," Swearngin said. "We can try to educate people. Secondly, we're going to re-evaluate if there need to be stronger penalties involved. I don't want to relegate it to soccer. It would be in any sport where you have taunts and profane language and challenging the authority of officials."

Coaches and soccer officials say the problems have come from a number of factors, including fans and players emulating the rowdy behavior of the international game, a lack of respect for the high school sport — which is played at a lower competitive level than elite club soccer — and a shortage of referees.

About half of this year's ejections have come for sportsmanship issues — most notably bad language — and serious foul play.

Mayhem in the stands

Fan behavior is also a concern to officials. Tim Wool, president of the Georgia Soccer Officials Association, said in one game a school's fans threw batteries at opposing players.

In another incident, on March 27, referee Patrick Baker issued a warning to fans at Kennesaw Mountain High during a game against North Cobb High, then terminated the game.

He wrote in his game report: "On the 39th minute of the match, the fans from the Kennesaw Mountain side began to yell about the officiating. They yelled, 'Referee you're not being assessed. Ref you suck. This is awful. Referee you are pathetic.' At this time I terminated the match as I felt this behavior [was] contrary to [that] published in NFSHA/GHSA/GISA standards of behavior."

North Cobb coach Erik Fridborg said his side had been warned by the officials.

"He didn't like the things that were being said," Fridborg said. "I told my crowd they needed to stop talking like that or the ref would make us forfeit the game."

Referees gave Kennesaw Mountain five "yellow cards" in 39 minutes. A player who gets two yellow cards is ejected.

"One of the final yellow cards was given to a player, and [the coach] was upset with the ref and pleading for his team, and he was given a yellow card," Fridborg said. "The Kennesaw Mountain parents were acting [up]. He told them to stop or he was going to forfeit the game. It was parents who caused it."

Kennesaw Mountain athletics director John Kelly said he regretted the way things turned out.

"It was an unfortunate incident that negatively affected our kids and our soccer program," Kelly said in an e-mail. "We have a high expectation for our athletes, students, parents and fans in terms of their behavior during athletic contests."

The incident came as no surprise to Wool, a 20-year officiating veteran.

"This is just something that's been escalating the last five or six years," he said.

Wool thinks some of the problem comes from club players, who play in front of the entire student body instead of just family and friends. Club teams, which are not affiliated with high schools and play mostly in weekend tournaments, are made up of elite players from areas all over the state.

"The testosterone and the thing about playing for your own school make people do stupid stuff I know they'd never do [in a club game]," Wool said.

GHSA associate director Ernie Yarbrough, who is the state's soccer coordinator, said game reports from officials constantly refer to profanity from players.

"The part that I don't understand is why soccer is so much different," said Yarbrough, whose daughter plays the sport at West Georgia. "You can't tell me the emotions and the pure energy that you have to have to play soccer [is] more than it is for basketball."

Foul language

Some officials suggested that language at the club level is not being policed the same as the high school level. In some cases, profane language is in the ear of the beholder.

"What you think and I think is profane, it could be up to interpretation," said Wool, who is refereeing games this season. "We have kids saying stuff to adults that's just totally amazing. It's funny, in collegiate soccer — Division I, II and III — there's zero tolerance. [In high school], I can't go a night and not hear it. It [might] not [be] directed at me, [but] you drop the F-bomb, and you're gone."

In the Region 5-AAAAA final last Friday at Harrison High, North Cobb's Fridborg said the student section — it calls itself the "Harrison Hooligans" — yelled expletives at one of his players for getting a red card after a celebration.

"Soccer is a very passionate game," he said. "It's like on the verge of a fight when you have a ref who doesn't take control. There are a lot of bad refs and a lot of parents who've invested a lot of time and a lot of money. Their expectations are high. Bad calls change games."

Mike Coulter, who coached at Brookwood High in Gwinnett County for 17 years and now officiates, said language is just part of the problem.

"The second thing is in the frustration in the way [players] just lose control and they commit what we refer to as 'serious foul play.' Throwing a violent elbow, sliding with double cleats up. Going after the man rather than the ball."

Coulter thinks three officials should be used instead of the usual two, but the association is stretched thin. Wool oversees 275 officials, and his organization must cover 4,800 games each year. He said he would like to recruit 100 to 150 new officials just to cover schools in metro Atlanta.

"I'm extremely worried they'll lose officials because of spectator issues," Yarbrough said. "Ultimately, the people who get hurt is the kids."