GK,
Half-way through ninth grade doesn’t seem outrageously early to me, but at this early age as a parent I would be careful to support rather than to push. As you well know, the life of a goalkeeper is more difficult than a field player in many ways. Wherever she goes, chances are she won’t start as a freshman and likely will see very little (and perhaps no) playing time if she doesn’t start – but you know all that.
I would suggest a plan with more of a strategy than just calling coaches. Calling coaches is great, don’t get me wrong but what is the purpose? I would suggest starting by calling a D1 near to your house. Have your daughter tell the coach of her interest, and ask the coach if she can watch a practice. Then watch and be honest. The thing most athletes don’t realize is how high the playing level is at the D3 level. It is significantly faster and the girls are bigger than high school. It goes without saying that D1 is even more of a challenge. I would take this time as an opportunity to learn about college soccer. Personally, I think that approach is more helpful than “making contact” with coaches, although it also allows for that. It would be a waste of time to “touch” a D3 coach so that he or she will remember your daughter’s name when it is clear that she wants (and is good enough for) D1. Of course, the reverse scenario is equally true.
I would focus on the skills video now. You may want to ask a coach directly, but I believe college coaches would prefer a “skills” video as opposed to a game highlights video for a keeper. Once you have a video, you can attach it to a coach email and that will give your daughter something to talk to the coach about when she does start calling (What do you think of my tape? What should I work on? what additional skills would you like to see?).
It goes without saying that there are way (and I mean way) more academic scholarships than athletic scholarships. Working hard and doing well academically in high school is always a calling card for recruits. As the others have noted, encourage your daughter do her best academically every day.