I had bought it in 3rd grade, just so she would always have it available. Yes, they have tryouts for goalies, but given the lack of kids wanting to play, most teams struggle to have 2 goalies, which is a necessity. The one recommendation I would make is getting the goalie gloves now - goalie gloves have extra thumb protection given the hand position on the stick. People will tell you - "they do not shoot hard at this age, etc" - just buy them and save yourself 6 weeks of recovery time | 
