With male field hockey being not as prominent in the US as other nations, you would have thought there would be more competition for places, with Jason Wellings leaving the international squad, but Tom Sheridan has really made the starting spot his own. The former Surbiton player (having plied his trade in the UK), has put in some top performances in international competition and has only recently been put under pressure for his spot by the involvement of Andrew Zayac in the world's squad. The hard working Zayac who has been putting work in to really develop as a goalkeeper, has recently moved on from the U21's to the full international squad. Although Wellings has played for the indoor team, places look to stay the same for now. There was the emergence of the Dutch born goalkeeper (who I can't remember his name!) who played for the U21's in the World Cup in Malaysia and Singapore in 2009 and went on to play for the men's team in international friendlies, but has seemed to have fallen off the radar.
But with Chris Rea being involved in the men's team, I think they have a potential long term starter who will already challenge Sheridan for the number 1 shirt. Rea, a former England junior international, is currently playing in the Panam games and having performed admirably in the Premier league last year is still doing well to push Exeter up the West conference league in the EHL. With him at the helm, the US looks to have a bright future in the goalkeeping department, although others may not be up to the same talent level to really push him as competition is often needed to encourage better performances.
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