Ranking No. 2 nationally in saves per game, graduate student goalkeeper Maddie George is entering her final season of eligibility with big goals in 2024.
Posting a career-high 16 saves against North Carolina Chapel Hill and helping the Green and Gold to a Coastal Athletic Association title last season, George serves as a leader on William and Mary’s field hockey team.
“She’s a hard worker, and she loves encouraging people to be better,” head coach Tess Ellis said. “She always tries to find what’s good and grabs hold of that.”
George credits her success to her teammates.
“I believe anything that contributes to the good of the team is a form of leadership,” she said. “As we’ve sort of settled into our roles on the team, we’ve done an even better job of fulfilling those roles so that we can be a stronger team together.”
George began her field hockey career in second grade, after seeing her sister’s friend Megan Hept play goalkeeper. Although George always knew she wanted to be a goalkeeper, she started as a defender.
“I just played defense and sat in the goal until I was big enough to actually start goalie,” George said. “Once I started, I fell in love with it.”
Prior to her time at William and Mary, George played for Saints field hockey, a club team based in Virginia Beach, Va.
“With club field hockey, I got to travel to so many cool places,” George said. “The places that it took me are some of the best memories I have.”
George started coaching for Saints in high school and continues to work with young athletes today.
“I like watching when I’m with the little ones and they’re finally understanding a concept,” she said. “There’s no better feeling than when someone gets that ‘aha’ moment, and you’re able to help them get there.”
As a senior at First Colonial High School in Virginia Beach, George recorded an impressive .930 save percentage with 12 shutouts. Additionally, she led the team to a 6A state title game in 2018.
Ellis said George’s unique playing style made her stand out during the recruiting process.
“Even though she doesn’t stand tall, she’s extremely explosive and makes up with the power that she has on her dive,” Ellis said. “Being explosive makes her harder to score against because she can cover the top shots.”
George said Hept — who played goalkeeper at Old Dominion from 2011 to 2014 — inspired her to take her talent to the collegiate level.
“I sort of made her into my role model,” George said. “The environment with field hockey, the community is so small, so most people do have that expectation to play in college.”
George comes from a family of William and Mary alumni: her father graduated in 1987, her brother graduated in 2018 and her sister attended a year at the College of William and Mary Law School.
“We were always taking trips up here, and my parents were always worming their way in my ear,” she said. “Me being a kid, I was always kind of resistant to it, like, ‘I don’t want to do it just because you want me to do it.’”
After meeting Ellis and former associate head coach Mark Egner, however, George fell in love with the program.
George expanded on her appreciation for Ellis.
“She has so much knowledge for the sport and just so much joy for the sport,” George said. “I knew that if I came here, I would be taken care of, not just coached.”
When going through the recruiting process, George also liked William and Mary’s culture of academic excellence.
“I knew that after field hockey, I would have a degree that’s very meaningful and would prepare me for the future,” she said.
As a freshman during the COVID-19 pandemic, George has witnessed changes in the team’s culture.
“If anything, we’ve just become so much more open with each other in terms of really being ourselves,” George said. “Whether it’s making up funny dances or an inside joke that only two of us will understand in five years, little moments like that are just so, so precious to me.”
George has also noticed significant personal growth since 2020.
“Every time I step out now, my headspace is that I’m about to play field hockey with my best friends and we’re going to crush it no matter what,” she said. “I think I’ve become so much more focused on the big picture, that this is my team and we’re about to compete against whoever our opponent is.”
Ellis elaborated on George’s growth as an athlete.
“She’s gotten so smart, and she knows the game,” Ellis said. “Her staying a fifth year is almost like having a coach on the field sometimes.”
George believes her teammates played a significant role in her personal development.
“I really think opening up with my teammates and being more present in the moment when I’m with them has helped me be more in the moment and gain so much confidence,” she said. “I’ve grown so much myself through the act of trying to help my team grow.”
George’s favorite Tribe field hockey memories involve her teammates, specifically during the CAA and NCAA tournaments last season.
“There was just so much joy there,” she said. “We were basically just all hanging out for two weeks straight.”
George believes the team’s strong bonds contributed to its success last year. Although Tribe field hockey began its 2024 season playing challenging teams, she remains optimistic.
“This season, every single game is getting better and better,” George said. “That’s because we’re starting to connect even more.”
George received her bachelor’s degree in economics last spring and is currently pursuing a 16-month master of accounting program at William and Mary.
When she parts ways with Tribe field hockey after this season, she will miss her teammates most.
“They have been my biggest support system since I’ve gotten here,” she said. “When I do leave this place, they will still be my best friends, and we will keep in touch forever.”