We hear from several of our Hockey Goal Keepers about the challenges and rewarding moments of this specialist position.

Anoushka K-B

My favourite PE teacher from the Junior school got me into hockey goalkeeping, because I was good a football so I thought I would be good at it. My favourite moment in a school hockey would be during the hockey IAPS in yr6 because we were all putting tones of effort in and having loads of fun. One of the challenges for goalkeepers are that at the end of a match if your team loses you feel bad because you were the one who let the goals in and so you feel as if it was your fault that the team lost. I do still really enjoy goalkeeping because it is fun and it means you have more opportunities to play at fixtures.

Lottie B

As a hockey GK, there are many challenges that come along the way. here are two in total that I would personally consider the most challenging.

Firstly, there is learning how to cope with getting hit in the knees with the ball. Of course, it hurts the first time it happens, but you have to learn to get used to it if you are the only goalkeeper on the team you have to stay on.

Secondly, there is learning how to deflect the ball with your hockey stick, although this doesn't really happen in the U12 age group it does happen on the rare occasion which is why it's good to learn it. When you first do it, I personally hit the ball forward to try and get it furthest away from the goal as possible to prevent any goals. But every time I did that, I always hurt my wrist from the impact the ball made as it's hard and coming at you with speed. So, what I did to overcome this was that I learnt to not hit the ball away but to angle it so as the ball hit my stick it would deflect to the sides where strikers aren't normally placed.

On the topic of learning how to adapt your play and get better, it takes me to my point about Friday morning training. As I have already mentioned deflecting the ball with your stick, I also learned something I have used in many matches before which saved our team many goals. And that's learning how to act in a one-on-one situation. Our teacher Oscar taught us how to do this in one single session as his training has really helped me. What he told us to do was come out to the player and make a barrier with our leg pads. When the player goes to shoot it will block their attempt and will let you clear the goal.

My favourite moment in a school match was attending the school tournament last Friday. We played a total of three matches and I think we did very well. It was really fun to take part in and it taught our hockey team ways how we can improve our match play.

As a GK many ask how you got into the sport. I got into the GK position when at my club I saw a girl training as one. And it overall looked really fun so I decided to give it a try. Luckily my dad was also a GK in hockey, so he helped me train and improve by giving me tips after training. And as I wanted to be one and my club needed one, they also encouraged me which also helped me get into the position.

Lastly, here is what i enjoy. As a GK I enjoy many things and one of them which is probably my favourite thing of all is the relief and happiness you feel when winning a match or just saving a goal as the pressure on you has been lifted so it's a big part of relief really and what makes me happiest.

Riley R

What challenges are there for GK’s

There are many challenges that come with being a GK. For example, kitting up takes up a lot of time, and having to tidy it away after takes even longer! There also isn’t very much publicity of influential GKs and we commonly get overlooked, as well as being blamed for an opposition’s goal.

• What you learnt in school for specific goalkeeping (Friday morning sessions)

I have learned so much from the Friday morning sessions, and because there aren’t very many of us, it becomes more focused on every GK. We have learned low blocks, as well as other techniques to save the goal with going in for a full on dive.

• Favourite moment in a school match

My favourite moment in a school match was when I saved a really hard shot- everyone in my team congratulated me and I felt very proud!

• What got you into goalkeeping

Part of what got me into goalkeeping was the fact that I could become part of a team, and I had seen other people do it and it didn’t appear to be too complicated- it’s much harder than it looks!

• What you enjoy about goalkeeping

I love being able to play hockey with all of my friends, as well as being part of a supportive team. It is incredibly gratifying saving a goal and feeling the rush of making an impact to the match and the final score!

Alia G

What challenges are there for GKs?

Usually, goalkeeping goes quite smoothly, but there are a few instances where it can be hard. For example, accidentally letting a goal in: When this happens, it can be hard to get over it as it can be quite disappointing, but you have to remember that you can’t save every single goal, and that everyone has bad days. The challenge here, for me, would not actually be saving the goal, but getting over the fact that one was let in and you should let that get you down!

What have I learnt in school about goalkeeping?

In my experience, I have learnt everything I know about goalkeeping at school because I have never been in an out of school hockey club. I have learnt many skills, such as closing down the space for an attacker when they are trying to shoot, how to save goals when the ball is flicked up into the air, and how to dive, which I never thought I would be able to do. Friday morning goalkeeping sessions are really effective as we focus on and practise a different aspect of goalkeeping each session which we then put to use in matches.

What is my favourite moment in a school match?

I have had many exciting moments in matches with my team, but this one is one of my favourites. It was my very first match as goalkeeper, having only attended one Friday morning session, I was terrified that we were going to lose the match, and because I was the last line of defence, it was on. Suddenly, I saw one of the opposing midfielders with the ball, racing towards the goal, I knew this could only mean one thing. I had to save this goal. At the time, it seemed that the only thing that mattered was that she did not score, so as the distance between the midfielder and I started to close, I began to panic. I watched her hit the ball with her stick so hard, I almost didn’t want to get in the way, but I ran forward and…deflected the goal! What I realised in that moment was that it didn’t matter whether we won or not, I had saved that goal and it was one step closer to victory. I have to say that this is by far my favourite story of goalkeeping as this was the first goal I had saved in a competitive match ever.

What got me into goalkeeping?

I knew throughout the beginning of Year 8, I wanted to get better at hockey. Playing hockey at a higher level seemed so exciting to me, but I never really had the motivation. This was my outlook on hockey for ages, I really wanted to get better, but I didn’t really know why. This was until my sister decided to try goalkeeping, the opportunity was there and she also wanted to get better so she signed up. At first, I was sceptical, but I saw how she got to interact with players who did play at a higher level, in higher teams, playing in clubs etc, and how she could learn from them, this convinced me to try it for at least a term to see if it could positively impact my play, and it did! I loved it so much that I have now been doing it for nearly half a year.

What do I enjoy about goalkeeping?

I enjoy being a crucial part of the team, but also being given a chance to progress by watching other people play, so I am not only improving my goalkeeping skills, but my general hockey skills as well. It is so exciting when you save a goal and essentially help the team into reaching victory, but also the amount of support you receive from your team when you do score a goal. It’s a great opportunity to do something different, it’s a great experience to learn from and it greatly helps with teamwork/building skills as well as your fitness is general. I think joining goalkeeping was one of the best decisions I have made in the time I have been doing hockey, I really wish I had started sooner.

Aahana K

My main challenges as a goalkeeper if failing, if I don’t save the goal it puts me down a lot. My favourite part of a match this may be simple but it really special its when my team shots and scores it just remindes me of my team and their talent. The main thing that I learnt from school is closing the gap so the ball can’t get past. My junior school teacher got me into it and told my some facts and whats so amazing about it. I enjoy goalkeeping cause it not that common sport and I love the kit.