VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — With the Virginia Beach Spring Classic youth soccer tournament bringing 315 teams to the city from at least six states this weekend, new rules regarding the treatment of referees will be getting a big, swift kick. "It's a zero-tolerance policy, which it should be, because there's just no place for that on the sporting field," said Steve Danbusky, Beach FC executive director. If you've been to a youth sporting event, you may have witnessed parents, players and coaches getting aggressive toward game officials. However, U.S. Soccer, the governing body for the sport in the United States, published new rules earlier this month that are designed to improve how referees are treated across the sport and allow everyone to enjoy the game. There are different tiers to the rules and punishment, physical and non-physical offenses — the non-physical including verbal taunting, harassment and intimidation, as well as derogatory language and offensive and discriminatory acts. As far as physical, this includes minor or slight touching, intentional confrontation and violent contact. "Ultimately, the referees are the final adjudicator, so they will have complete control and will be able to enforce it," Danbusky said. There will be a learning curve, and you might ask, how are they going to enforce this? Well, as Danbusky explained, the referees will have more power than before. "Sometimes you can get a yellow card, which allows you to continue to play, but per the referee report in the aftermath, if certain things were said or done, it can get reviewed and it could carry a further suspension or ban that didn't take place during the game," Danbusky said. ...read more read less