Rush goalie is a variation of football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 in which the role of the goalkeeper

Goalkeeper

In many team sports which involve scoring goals, a goalkeeper is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by intercepting shots at goal...

 is more flexible than normal. The goalkeeper position is left unfilled until the ball comes near the goal

Goal (sport)

Goal refers to a method of scoring in many sports. It can also refer to the physical structure or area of the playing surface where scoring occurs....

. At this point the nearest player to the ball will take on the role of goalkeeper. Once the danger has passed the player in goal (the "rush goalie") may then return being a normal outfield player again. Rush goalie is only played in informal football matches, usually by children, and often when all of the players wish to play a more active role in the game than the position of goalkeeper would normally allow; or when the number of players per side is particularly low.

A rush goalie system can also be used as a way of "levelling out" teams when playing with an uneven number of players - usually, the team with an extra man will be forced to nominate one player to stay in goal permanently (also known as stick keeper or simply sticks) while the other team is allowed to play rush.

Sometimes (in particular when the variant is known as goalie-when) players are only allowed to handle the ball in the area

Penalty area

The penalty area , is an area of an association football pitch. It is rectangular and extends to each side of the goal and in front of it. Within the penalty area is the penalty spot , which is from the goal line, directly in-line with the centre of the goal...

 provided they have shouted "when" before touching the ball.