[ninkendo]

In my league the payment is per-team, not per person, so the league doesn't care who pays, they just need payment. But traditionally, a team will divide the cost among N-1 of them so that the goalie doesn't have to pay. It's quite a nice system IMO.

[phil21]

It also is worth pointing out that it's not just because of the "rarity" of goalies teammates do this - it's also a substantial cost burden for a goalie to play due to the expense of equipment. This helps distribute that burden a bit more fairly since as you stated early - the team doesn't exist unless you have a goalie.

A family member recently outfitted a junior high goalie and the total came to about $1,000.

I always imagined the goalie as the main tank of a raiding guild. They got special privileges just due to their importance and "upkeep" costs.