How many schools should be on your target list?
Why 10 well-matched schools beat 50 long shots
A sophomore showed her club coach a target list with 50 schools on it.
“I want to keep my options open!” she explained.
Smart strategy, or spreading herself too thin?
Two schools of thought
Team Volume: Cast a wide net. Email 50+ schools. You never know who’ll respond. Other athletes are doing it, so you can’t afford not to.
Team Depth: Build real relationships with 15-20 programs. Coaches can tell generic outreach from genuine interest. Quality beats quantity.
Here’s the thing: field hockey has the third-best put-through rate from high school to college among female sports, and fifth-best for Division 1. It’s still a tall order, but that math impacts your strategy.
You don’t necessarily need to email 50 schools to find opportunities.
But you DO need to be well-matched to your list.
The matching problem nobody talks about
Having 30 schools on your list is pointless if 25 are wrong for you.
Before you count schools, categorize them:
Dream schools: Everything perfect, but probably out of reach
Reach schools: Stretch, but possible with development
Realistic schools: Good matches for your current level
Safety schools: Confident you’d get recruited
Most recruiting heartbreak comes from lists that are 90% dream/reach, 10% realistic/safety.
Be honest: Would you rather be pleasantly surprised by interest after June 15, or scrambling because you aimed too high?
The reality check
Look at your high school and club teams. How competitive are they, and how competitive are you within those squads?
If you aren’t a game-changer on your club team - the player opponents game-plan around - why would a top 10 D1 program recruit you?
They’re competing for the best players from the best clubs nationally; less than 0.5% of the top US high schoolers will end up at those programs.
Next, ask your club coach to categorize your list using the 4 categories above, WITHOUT seeing your rankings. If they rate most of your schools as dreams or reaches, you need more realistic options.
Your list size ultimately doesn’t matter if it’s not properly distributed or if it doesn’t reflect your playing reality.
Too many dreams, not enough reality? Add realistic schools now.
50 schools but can’t remember why you added half? Start cutting.
All realistic, no reaches? Maybe aim higher on a few.
The funnel approach
Freshman year (25-40 schools): Explore broadly. Learn what you want. Get on recruiting boards, and - as your finances allow - play at showcases and do some multi-coach clinics.
Sophomore year (20-25 schools): Narrow things down a bit, but keep emailing when you have updates or new film to share. Try to have 3-5 dream/reach schools combined, 10-15 realistic matches, and 5-7 safety options. Get to clinics at your favorite schools to get a feel for the campus and the coaches.
June 15 and beyond (10-15 schools): Natural selection happens. Some programs never call. Other coaches go silent as better options emerge. Others show keen interest that weren’t on your list to begin with. You’ll ideally have multiple schools actively recruiting you, so you can start building deeper relationships to find the right fit for you.
The bottom line
The recruits who succeed aren’t the ones with the longest lists. They’re the ones whose lists actually match their level.
Start broad enough to discover what you want. Narrow deep enough to build real relationships. But always stay honest about where you actually fit.
Because 10 well-matched schools beat 50 long shots every time.
In my flagship course, The Field Hockey Recruiting Playbook, I dedicate multiple modules to the process of creating and curating your list - it’s a long and ongoing process. It’s currently available at a 33% discount!