“We are excited to continue to expose young players in the men’s program to international competition,” said Clements. “Five new players were a part of the World League Round 1 Team and we will have three uncapped athletes joining our core group of players for World League Round 2. We will look to improve upon our performances from World League Round 1, implement tactical and mental elements within our play and improve overall throughout the tournament.”
Selections were determined based on past performances over the last several months, including World League Round 1, training sessions as well as performances within the centralized training program. Patrick Harris (Moorpark, CA) will captain the team in Brazil and be supported by a leadership group involving Jon Ginolfi (Moorpark, Cali.), Kevin Barber (Camarillo, Cali.) and Ian Scally (Thousand Oaks, Cali.).
The pool of participating teams in made up No. 10 Argentina, No. 12 South Africa, No. 25 Chile, No. 33 Brazil and No. 34 Trinidad and Tobago. The U.S. sits in the middle, ranked fourth amongst all the teams. The U.S. will open the tournament against Chile on February 27, followed by South Africa the next day. From there, the U.S. will face Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago and will close out the tournament against Argentina on March 5. The top two teams will automatically advance to World League Round 3 to be held in the summer of 2013.
“Argentina and South Africa competed in the 2012 Olympic Games and are ranked in the top twelve in the world,” Clements said. “Chile played very well in a recent South American championship, losing to Argentina in the final and Trinidad and Tobago and Brazil are both performing extremely well at the moment. All of the teams are very strong and it is fair to say this will be a challenging tournament.”
Following World League Round 2, Clements will select a new squad for 2013-14 at the California Cup in Moorpark, Cali. The newly selected squad will begin preparations for the 2013 Pan American Cup in Brampton, Canada, August 10-17. The winner of the Pan American Cup qualifies for the 2014 Men's World Cup in The Hague.
U.S. Men’s World League Round 2 Team: Kevin Barber (Camarillo, Cali.), Michael Barminski (Ventura, Cali.) Ajai Dhadwal (Agoura Hills, Cali.), Mohan Gandhi (Ventura, Cali.), Jon Ginolfi (Moorpark, Cali), Patrick Harris (Moorpark, Cali.), Will Holt (Camarillo, Cali.), Aki Kaeppeler (Ventura, Cali.), Steve Mann (New York N.Y.), Manny Martinez (San Diego, Cali.), Johnny Oroczo (Ventura, Cali.), Chris Rea (San Diego, Cali.), Arjan Reyatt (Brea, Cali.) , Ian Scally (Thousand Oaks, Cali.), Tyler Sundeen (Simi Valley, Cali.), Spencer Reed (Ventura, Cali.), Kanwarpreet Sidhu (San Jose, Cali.), Asavir Kalla (Cupertino, Cali.)
