USA Field Hockey national team powered by locals
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

USA FIELD HOCKEY/Special to The Acorn LOFTY EXPECTATIONS- Shawn Nakamura, a local resident and 1996 graduate of Camarillo High, takes a swipe at the ball during a recent match. The USA men's national team will play in the Pan American Games in Brazil in July with the hopes of qualifying for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

By beating Mexico in a bestof-three game series last week, the United States Field Hockey team has earned a chance to compete in the 2007 Pan American Games this July in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The tournament is a qualifier for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

The U.S. team has many reasons why it's been good enough to play for a berth in the Olympics.

The Americans have a good defense, solid goalkeeping and an explosive offense that erupted for six goals in the deciding game against Mexico. The biggest reason for the team's success, though, is found in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

It seems as if those two counties are to field hockey what Seattle was to grunge music. Of the 18 players on the USA roster for the Mexico series, 12 came from Camarillo, Moorpark, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village.

The players from Moorpark include forward Jed Cunningham and midfielders Jon Ginolfi and Sean Harris. Thousand Oaks was represented by goalkeepers Jason Wellings and Jeb Saez, as well as defensemen Brian Schledorn and forward Ian Scally. Rinku Bhamber is from Simi Valley.

Forwards Binh Hoang and Shawn Hindy hail from Westlake Village, while defensemen Shawn Nakamura and Pat Cota are Camarillo natives.

"I started playing field hockey 25 years ago in Moorpark with Shawn Hindy," the 32-year-old Hoang said.

"Tom Harris, who is Sean Harris's uncle, started the Field Hockey Federation (FHF) in Moorpark around that time and since then it has been known as one of the best in the nation, if not the best. Plus my brother Tommy played field hockey in the 1987 Pan American games, so that had an influence on me to learn the sport as well," Hoang said.

The modern game of field hockey grew from the sport played in English public schools in the early 19th century and can best be described as a combination of hockey and lacrosse.

Scally, a 1997 Oak Park High graduate, agreed with Hoang that the biggest reason for so much field hockey talent coming from the Ventura and L.A. areas was because of Tom Harris.

"He put together the FHF in Moorpark, and over the years it has run very well," Scally said. "Field Hockey is still a small sport, but (Tom Harris) has done a very good job of recruiting players from the area to play over the last few years. The league is one of the most competitive in the nation."

Last year, Nick Conway took over the head coaching duties of the United States team, and according to 2004 Moorpark High graduate Sean Harris, the team has been playing better than ever since he showed up.

"I've been on the team since I was 17, and this is the best our team has played since I've been here," Sean Harris, 20, said. "Our team has improved so much in such a short period of time, and a lot of that is because of our coach."

The United States defeated Mexico 30 in the first of a threegame series in Devonshire, Bermuda, before playing to a draw in the second game. Going into the third game, all the United States needed to do to advance to the Pan American Games was not lose by more than two goals.

"We knew we could've played a defensive game and still advanced, but we wanted to make it by winning," Hoang said. "We came out strong in the second half, looking to put them away."

With the scored tied at one at halftime, Hoang put the U.S. up for good when he scored in the opening minutes of the second half.

Ginolfi then added two goals in a four-minute span to help put the game away. Ginolfi, the team's youngest player at 18 years and seven months, was named the USA's Man of the Match.

"As soon as the game ended, the feeling was almost anticlimactic," Conway said. "There was no real euphoria feeling until later in the locker room, when some of the players seemed to be very happy. To me, though, it just felt like a huge weight was lifted from my mind. I was glad that all the hard work the team had put in was worth it."

Although the United States victory was quite an accomplishment, Scally called it a minor one compared to what the team could possibly end up doing- qualifying for the Olympics.

"The team is excited about the win, but I think we feel as if there is still more to be done, that we aren't finished yet," Scally said. "We have a very good team, and it's very possible we can do it. So, go USA and let's go get a medal."