Coming from Ireland - where self-promotion means being accused of “having notions about yourself” - I always found the pageantry surrounding sports events in the USA somewhat surreal.
For one, the playing of the national anthem before sporting events that don’t involve the national team was not the norm where I grew up. But hey, the original idea was to bring people together and boost post-World War II morale, and it does no harm, so I can get behind that.
But the American pre-game tradition of taking ten minutes to announce the starting lineups with a walk-out, and each player stepping forward… that one I would gladly consign to the sporting dustbin.
You’ve heard of lifemaxxing, but this is lineupmaxxing, especially in the NCAA.
The announcer gets more excited about this moment than when goals are actually scored.
“AAAAAAA sophomore midfielder from THIS TOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, JAAAAAANNNNEEEE JONES!”
The player steps forward and does her signature wave / move / bow / hand gesture to the crowd. At the same time, the other signature move she recorded on media day (Bow and arrow? Funny hat? Brushing the shoulders? Juggling? Take your bets, people!) plays on the big screen.
The starters get their moment, their teammates clap and cheer (potentially through gritted teeth) and then the game finally begins.
I realize how Grinchesque I sound here, but for me, the entertainment portion of sports should come from the action on the field, not the pregame preamble.
If you’re gonna do it, do it like the Big East Championships, where they briefly announce each player irrespective of whether they’re starting, coming off the bench, or not playing at all.
And because we put so much ceremony around the starting lineup, it’s also become something families attach way too much meaning to.
The game has changed
Field hockey has had unlimited substitutions since 1992, but the introduction of the autopass rule in 2009 and the move from halves to quarters in 2014 has vastly increased the tempo and pace of the game.
It took a while for the NCAA to adopt quarters (2019), and high school a year later, but the end result has been the same - the game has got faster, and players and coaches have had to adapt.
Substitution charts are planned meticulously for each game. Some international teams run their first round of changes after three minutes. Coaches are now more concerned with who is on the pitch at the end of a quarter than the beginning of it. And it’s a constant battle to ensure you have enough speciality players for both your attacking and defensive penalty corner units on the pitch at all times too.
In that environment, who starts a game is a much less meaningful question than it used to be.
Rugby figured this out before field hockey did. They’ve been referring to bench players as “finishers” for over a decade now - not because it sounds nicer, but because it’s accurate.
A player selected to come on with 20 minutes left against legs that have been running for 60 is making a specific tactical contribution. They might have an outsize impact on the result precisely because they aren’t tired.
Field hockey is heading in the same direction, although the NCAA is still caught between the old and the new.
How the bench can matter just as much
Many college teams still overplay their best players. The logic is straightforward: 80% of a star player is worth more than 100% of someone with less ability, especially in a program lacking talent depth.
The typical pattern is a starter going out for six or seven minutes, coming off for a quick break for two minutes, then going back on for the final stretch of the quarter. It works well enough, but it creates a mid-quarter window - usually when the best players on both sides are briefly off the field - that a smart bench player can exploit.
And some programs, especially those who now have more scholarship resources in the NIL era, have started thinking about this more systematically.
GPS and heart rate data can tell you exactly when a player’s output is declining, which changes how you think about rotation. A handful of teams are experimenting with ice hockey-style line changes - swapping entire forward lines at regular intervals to keep physical intensity high throughout.
The idea is that they can wear teams down over time, and take advantage in the final quarter when opposition defenders who have had minimal rest are flagging, while these forwards who’ve only been on the field for half as much time are still fresh.
Not every team is doing it to that extent yet, but more and more teams are getting creative with their bench use - using more players, for shorter stints, as the game speeds up.
What this means for recruiting
Here’s where families sometimes get anxious: if my daughter isn’t starting, will coaches who come to watch think less of her?
The honest answer is that you do need to get on the pitch at some stage to be seen (although your bench behavior is also being watched).
But a player who comes on against fatigued starters and makes an immediate impact - a clean tackle, a sharp pass, a pressing line that forces a turnover - is showing a coach something real. Possibly more real than a starter who may have been coasting through the opening exchanges, or just conserving energy.
Coaches who recruit seriously are watching for impact, not counting minutes. What you do with the time you get tells them far more about what you’d bring to their program than the number on the clock when you came on.
If Friday’s paid piece on deselection landed for you, this is the other side of that conversation. In a game that’s gotten faster, more tactical, and more physiologically sophisticated, impact off the bench matters more than ever.
The starting lineup gets the walkout, but the substitution chart wins the game.
My Strategy Sessions are back - one hour, three topics of your choosing, direct help with your recruiting process, or anything else in your hockey life that you might need a second set of eyes for. Book via the link below or email hi@alangood.com for more details!