As a younger referee, you may find it effective to utilise the captains to notify the coach that the dissent/abuse from the sideline is unacceptable. The young referee then avoids a direct confrontation with the older coach.

Use the following steps:

1. Stop play, or at a natural stoppage, blow your whistle and indicate that play should not be restarted until your signal.

2. Call the team captain(s) to you.

3 Inform the team captain(s) that you have time stopped, and are giving them two minutes to explain to their coach(es) that it is the coach(es) responsibility to control the sidelines.

4. Do not talk to the coach(es). That is the job of the captain(s) at this point.

5. When the captain(s) return to the field, restart play.

Older or more experienced referees may choose to deal directly with the coach.

If a warning to the coach does not result in the desired effect, the next step is to "caution" the coach. (Please note: The Laws of the Game do not permit referees to caution or send off anyone other than players. In this discussion, we are talking about the mechanism for informing a coach that his misconduct is being reported to the league, in keeping with the Laws.)

There are three basic steps when giving a "caution" to a coach:

1. The play of the game must be clearly stopped.

2. The coach must be told that he is being reported for misconduct. DO NOT SHOW THE CARD.

3. Play must be quickly restarted.

These three steps can be accomplished in many ways depending on particular referee and the situation. The following procedure is suggested:

1. Blow the whistle to stop play and quickly pick up the ball.

2. Walk to the sideline and meet with the coach out on the field away from spectators.

3. Tell the coach that he has committed misconduct and is being reported for dissent. DO NOT SHOW THE CARD. Always remain polite and respectful.

4. Do NOT answer any of his questions concerning your judgement calls. Tell him you will not discuss these.

5. Return to the field, get the players' attention, and restart play.

Having been properly "cautioned", most coaches will make every attempt to control the verbal abuse from the sidelines. If the abuse/dissent should continue, however, the coach must be "sent off'. Follow the above procedure for the issuance of a "caution", but inform the coach that play will not be restarted until he has left the area.

If a coach is "cautioned or sent off' fill out the misconduct report and turn it in. Keep it simple. These reports help us keep track of problems. Weeks later, if questioned, you may have forgotten the incident.