Such is Kealsie Robles’ determination to master field hockey, that she isn’t just content being one of the best goalkeepers in the USA.

“I have always had the goal to go through every position in field hockey, from a player to coach to a referee,” the 21-year-old Yorktown native says. “By being a coach, I can learn things that I can incorporate back into my own personal game.”

But while Robles is a jack of all trades, she is nonetheless a master of one. First discovering field hockey when her fourth grade teacher “asked me to trade my soccer ball for a field hockey stick”, she went on to rack up an impressive honor list as a four-sport athlete at York High School.

That continued across the HRBT at Old Dominion University, where she has been a two-time NFHCA National Academic Squad member and a regular winner of weekly and annual conference and all-region awards.

Her expertise between the sticks has seen her earn call-ups to national team squads, being a member of the U19s in 2015 and the U21s since the middle of last year. The cutting-edge coaching Robles receives in Pennsylvania is passed on to our Focus goalkeepers, exposing them to techniques and concepts in their teenage years that many goalkeepers will have to wait until their college years to experience.

Robles says her coaching mission is to “help and inspire players” to fulfill their potential, citing Focus coaches Kristen McCann and Quan Nim, plus USA Field Hockey hall of farmer Amy Tran Swensen as the biggest influences on her career.

“A great coach is someone who inspires their players to work hard and be an example to them. They have shown me that it’s good to have fun, but that nothing beats hard work and commitment, and trying to instill that in the people I coach is big for me,” she explains.

“The most rewarding thing about being a coach is being able to help and impact players along their journey and career. The flip side of that is that there are challenges too - learning to be patient with players, and teaching them to be patient with themselves.

“Even though I am helping Focus goalkeepers learn, I love to learn from them as well.”   

Robles also recognizes the importance of players carrying that patience and persistence into their off-field lives, especially when on the recruiting journey.

“My advice would be to never give up because it will be really hard at times and test you, but it is such a rewarding and unforgettable experience. Put in the work to get your result,” she offers.     

“Field hockey had given me my best friends, my college career, and passion that I can continually live out. It also gives me the chance to continually learn. One of my best memories of coaching is when one of my players called me full of excitement, and a few tears, to tell me that she had committed to the school of her dreams.”

Robles knows as well as anyone the role club hockey can play in helping payers achieve their goals, by exposing them to higher-level competition and the challenge of working together with a group to achieve something bigger than themselves.

“One of my favorite memories from field hockey was winning the regional club championships with Focus. It was a team full of my best friends, and experiencing a big win over our biggest rivals was something I’ll never forget.”