Why recruiting hits different for goalkeepers
Before June 15, you're guessing. And guessing wrong is expensive.
Recruiting as a goalkeeper is harder than it looks.
Not because goalkeepers lack talent. Not because coaches don’t value the position.
It’s because the way recruiting works before June 15 hits keepers in a way it doesn’t hit anyone else.
The roster math
Every college program carries somewhere between two and four goalkeepers. Most have three.
Field hockey’s unlimited substitutions mean coaches are always open to adding another defender, midfielder, or forward if the player is good enough and they have a spot available.
But goalkeeping doesn’t work that way. Most programs “pick and stick” once they’ve decided who their starting keeper is for a given season. The position doesn’t rotate, so coaches limit the roster spots they use on keepers.
There are exceptions — you’ll sometimes see keepers split time with one playing the first half and another the second, or a mid-season change of starter if things haven’t been going well. But those are rare.
That means a program won’t take a goalkeeper in every class. If a school isn’t recruiting a keeper in your grade, it doesn’t matter how good you are. There’s no spot.
The information problem
Before June 15, college coaches can’t tell you directly whether they’re interested in you. That’s the rule for everyone — players, parents, club coaches.
But for field players, the stakes of guessing wrong are lower. Field hockey has a lot of positional flexibility. A midfielder might end up playing defense or forward in college depending on the program’s needs. There’s room to guess wrong and still end up on a roster.
For a goalkeeper, guessing wrong is expensive.
Showcases, clinics, and travel all cost money. And if a program has no intention of recruiting a keeper in your class, that money is gone.
Here’s what makes it even harder: a program that looks like they need to recruit a keeper in the next class may have already found one internationally or via the transfer portal. You won’t find that out until their roster page updates in August.
Field hockey also has a second transfer portal window in May. Player movement there can suddenly change a program’s recruiting plan for keepers. Graduation tracks change. Players quit.
So even if you think you know a school’s situation, you might be wrong.
What you can actually do about it
FH College Path’s goalkeeper database and PCFH x TFHA’s roster predictions have both tried to help with this problem at scale. They’re useful starting points.
But there’s one lever that’s more direct.
Your club coach can ask.
Not you. Not your parents. But if your club coach has a relationship with a college program - or even if they don’t - they can reach out and ask a straightforward question: “Are you recruiting a goalkeeper in the class of 2028?”
It’s a yes or a no. And that answer might change where you spend your time and money this year.
This isn’t about playing favorites within a club. It’s about giving goalkeepers information they have no other way of getting before June 15. A club coach who does this for their keepers is doing something that costs nothing and saves families thousands.
If your club coach isn’t doing this, bring it up. They may not have thought about it.
If the answer is no
If you discover your dream school isn’t recruiting a keeper in your class, it’s not necessarily game over.
Keep emailing. Stay on their radar. If something changes before June 15 - a transfer, an injury, a player leaving the program - you want them thinking of you first.
You’re hedging your bets without throwing more money at the problem.
The bottom line
The recruiting process wasn’t designed with goalkeepers in mind.
The information gap before June 15 hurts every position, but it hurts keepers the most - because the consequences of guessing wrong are sharper and the roster math doesn’t forgive mistakes.
The club coach question is the single most useful thing a goalkeeper can do right now. Use it.
Thursday’s paid piece covers the rest: how to stand out at showcases when nothing is happening in your half, what kind of training actually prepares you for college-level evaluation, and how to think about redshirting if the conversation comes up.