Pro soccer's pernicious influence on the amateur game

On Saturday afternoon I refereed a boys U-15 game in one of the German regional leagues. I gave out five yellow cards — one for dissent, and four for various levels of foul play. There were alsothree, five-minute time penalties — one for further foul play, and a pair for unsporting conduct after a square-up and shoving match between two players. So in total there were eight punishments inthe course of a 70-minute game, and that was not at all untypical for a youth game at this level.