They are the last line of defense, the coach in the pool and the pulse of the team.
When it comes to water polo, the attributes that make up an elite goalkeeper are as complex as the job description.
UCLA senior netminder Brittany Fullen, now in her second full season as the full-time starter at the position, has posted 482 career saves, good for fourth all-time in the UCLA record books. A year after setting the UCLA single-season save record with 237, her coach feels that she has blossomed into one of the nation’s best.
“Brittany has improved so much from the time she arrived here,” coach Adam Krikorian said. “Not only has she developed the physical tools necessary to be an elite goalie, she has embraced the more mental aspects of the job.”
For a position that requires a supreme amount of athleticism and strength in stopping high-speed shots from close range, Krikorian believes that the ideal player should have a unique set of physical gifts.
“The best goalkeepers tend to be taller and with great wingspans,” he said. “And what’s even more important is the strength and the ability to get wide with the lower body and build up that explosion for flying out of the water to stop shots. The good thing for us is Brittany has all of those things.”
However, Fullen and Krikorian agree that oftentimes the most important attributes of a goalkeeper lie not along the muscles in the arms and legs but between the ears and within the vocal chords.
“One of the things that I’ve had to focus on is being more vocal,” Fullen said. “The goalkeeper has to be able to let everyone know what’s going on at all times. Because I’m a quiet person by nature, that’s been one of the things I’ve had to work on the most.”
In addition to being consistently talkative, goalkeepers must also possess a high level of confidence, both in their own abilities and in those of their teammates.
“Confidence is absolutely huge,” Krikorian said. “That’s what helps you perform in close games under pressure. You can have all the physical gifts in the world, but if you lack confidence, calm and composure, you’re going to struggle.”
That confidence is a two-way street, as a goalkeeper must have faith in her teammates to limit optimal scoring chances.
“Our team plays such strong defense,” Fullen said. “The majority of the time, I’m facing shots that are heavily contested or that have to be put on net because of a late in the shot-clock situation. Realistically, I should be stopping all of those kinds of shots.”
Although water polo is not the only sport that requires a netminder, the positions are vastly different from sport to sport, most notably in their proximity to the action.
“We (goalies) always have to be alert and into the flow of the game,” Fullen said. “The pools we use in water polo are much smaller than, say, a soccer field or a hockey rink, so goalies tend to be much more involved in the end-to-end action.”
While nobody expects a goalie to stop everything, Krikorian believes that the elite players give their teams a tremendous boost.
“What we’re talking about with the best goalies is a few goals’ difference every time out,” he said. “We know that with Brittany out there, we absolutely always have a terrific shot at winning.”