USA Field Hockey and men's coach Nick Conway have announced their roster for the men's series with the Rotterdam Dutch club, 10-15 February at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California.
The series represents a final tune-up for the USA men before taking on Mexico in a best-of-three series, 8-11 March in Bermuda. The winner of the series will earn the final spot in the eight-team Pan American Games tournament, 13-29 July in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The USA men have appeared in every Pan Am Games tournament since the sport was added to the Games in 1967.
The USA roster for the series includes a combination of internationally-experienced veterans and rising young stars. Ten of the U.S. players on the roster have Pan American Games experience including Rinku Bhamber (Simi Valley, Calif.), Pat Cota (Camarillo, Calif.), Steve Danielson (San Diego, Calif.), Shawn Hindy (Westlake Village, Calif.), Jarred Martin (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.), Shawn Nakamura (Camarillo, Calif.), Jeb Saez (Thousand Oaks, Calif.), Ian Scally (Thousand Oaks, Calif.), Brian Scheldorn (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) and Jason Wellings (Thousand Oaks, Calif.). A member of the USA's 2001 World Cup Qualifying Tournament team, Binh Hoang (Westlake Village, Calif.) rounds out the core of veteran players for the USA.
The U.S. selections also include a group of young players with who each have fewer than 10 international appearances including Nate Coolidge (Sandwich, Mass.), Remco Cownebergh (Northridge, Calif.), Jed Cunningham (Moorpark, Calif.), Jonathon Ginolfi (Moorpark, Calif.), Mick Harner (Hanover, Pa.), Sean Harris (Moorpark, Calif.) and Manny Martinez (Lakeside, Calif.).
The U.S. team will meet a squad of international superstars appearing for Rotterdam. The renowned Dutch club's roster includes Australian Olympic gold medalist Mark Knowles, the international game's all-time leading scorer Sohail Abbas of Pakistan and New Zealand national team members Ryan Archibald and Phillip Burrows.
Source: US Field Hockey
