Law 12: Fouls and Misconduct
Fouls
A foul is an unsafe and/or unfair act...committed by a player, against an opponent, and while the ball is in play.
There are two types of fouls, Direct Free Kick Fouls and Indirect Free Kick Fouls

Direct Free Kick (DFK) Fouls
There are 12 DFK Fouls. The first 7 fouls happen when a player commits them in a manner considered by the referee to be careless, reckless, or using excessive force.
*1. Kicks or attempts to kick an opponent;
*2. Trips or attempts to trip an opponent;
3. Strikes or attempts to strike an opponent;
4. Jumps at an opponent;
**5. Charges an opponent;
*6. Pushes an opponent;
7. Tackles/challenges an opponent.

The following 5 just need to happen:
*8. Holds an opponent;
9. Spits at an opponent;
*10. Handles the ball deliberately;
11. Impedes an opponent with contact;
12. Throws an object at the ball, opponent or match official, or makes contact with the ball with a held object.

#10 needs clarification as you always hear spectators and coaches yelling out, "Hand Ball...didn't you see that Ref?" Yes, I saw that but it was not a hand ball. If you read the entire piece, Handles the ball deliberately, the word deliberately is key. If a player deliberately hits the ball, it is a foul. If the ball hits the player, it is not.

8U - If deliberately done, the fouls with (*) are the fouls most likely to occur in 8U games.
10U - In addition to those (*), the foul with (**) are the fouls that most commonly occur in 10U games.

8U Rules
Because we do not use goal keepers in 8U, all fouls would be awarded an Indirect Free Kick. (See Law 13)

When one of the 12 fouls happen, a DFK (see Law 13) is awarded where the foul occurred, unless it happened by a defender within his/her penalty area. Then a penalty kick would be awarded.  (See Law 14)

Indirect Free Kick (IFK) Fouls
There are 8 IFK Fouls.  The first 4 apply to Goalkeepers, so they would not apply to the 8U division.
The Goalkeeper:
1. takes more than six seconds while controlling the ball with their hands, before releasing it from his/her possession;
2. touches the ball with their hands after it has been released from their possession and has not touched any other player;
3. touches the ball with their hands after it has been deliberately kicked to them by a team-mate;
4. touches the ball with their hands after they have received it directly from a throw-in taken by a team-mate.

The following 4 IFK Fouls apply to all divisions:
5. Plays in a dangerous manner;
6. Impedes the progress of an opponent without contact;
7. Prevents the goalkeeper from releasing the ball from his/her hands;
8. Commits any other offense not previously mentioned in Law 12 where play is stopped to caution or dismiss a player.

***Plus an IFK will be awarded to the opposing team when the following AYSO Rules are not observed by a player:
8U, 10U, 12U - When a player deliberately touches the ball with his/her head during a match.
8U, 10U - When a goalkeeper punts the ball.


Misconduct
Cautions and Send-Offs are rarely used in 10U and never in 8U. These may only be used by trained and certified referees.
Cautionable Offenses
A player is cautioned and shown the yellow card when committing one of the following six offenses.
1. Unsporting behavior.
2. Dissent by word or action.
3. Persistent infringement of the Laws of the Game.
4. Delaying the restart of play.
5. Failure to respect the required distance when play is restarted with a corner kick, free kick or throw-in.
6. Entering, re-entering, or deliberately leaving the field of play without the referee's permission.

Send-Off Offenses
A player is sent off and shown the red card when committing one of the following seven offenses.
1. Serious foul play.
2. Violent conduct.
3. Spitting at an opponent or any other person.
4. Denying the opposing team a goal or an obvious goal scoring opportunity by deliberately handling the ball (this does not apply to the goal keeper when within their own penalty area).
5. Denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity to an opponent moving towards the player's goal by an offense punishable by a free kick.
6. Using offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or gestures.
7. Receiving a second caution in the same game.