Cota Names Indoor USMNT Roster Headed to 2025 Nkosi Cup
CAPE TOWN, South Africa – U.S. Men’s National Indoor Team Head Coach Pat Cota has named the squad set to travel to Cape Town, South Africa for the 2025 Nkosi Cup from December 12 to 16.
"I want to express my sincere appreciation to Simon Hoskins of USA Field Hockey and Dave Jackson of the United States Men’s Field Hockey Foundation for their continued commitment to elevating indoor hockey as an essential component of our men’s programming," commented Cota. "We are excited to return to the Nkosi Cup and to provide this group of athletes with exposure to one of the highest levels of indoor competition. This opportunity represents a significant step in strengthening our overall men’s pathway and deepening the talent within our indoor program as we build toward LA28 and the next Indoor Hockey World Cup.”
The squad features several names that are new to the indoor scene, but not to the men’s program. Doug Allison, Alex Beauduin, Mehtab Grewal, Michael Mendoza, Alberto Montilla, Jasper Pouw and goalkeeper Amar Singh have all competed for either the junior or senior program over the years, and look to earn their first international indoor caps.
Veteran returners include Mohan Gandhi (16 caps) and Pat Harris (62 caps)—the current highest capped men’s indoor athlete. Both were part of the historic run at the 2023 FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup where the team finished fourth. Harris also competed in the 2003 and 2011 editions, and most recently at the 2023 Nkosi Cup alongside Jack Weitzman (8 caps).
Cota will be joined by assistant coach Michael Behrmann, team manager Nigel Traverso, and physio Damien Kuhn.
Nkosi Cup Schedule
Date | Time ET | Match |
|---|---|---|
Friday, December 12 | 10:20 AM | Namibia vs. USA |
Saturday, December 13 | 6:00 AM | South Africa vs. USA |
10:20 AM | USA vs. New Zealand | |
Monday, December 15 | 3:20 AM | Australia vs. USA |
Semifinals | ||
Tuesday, December 16 | Final |
The third edition of the Nkosi Cup will be played at the Wynberg Military Base Stadium and features highly ranked indoor nations. The No. 15 USA will play No. 5 Australia, No. 6 South Africa, No. 8 Namibia and No. 18 New Zealand. The Wolves faced both Namibia and South Africa at the 2023 Nkosi Cup, where they fell in both contests, 2-6 and 4-7, respectively. They last played Australia at the 2023 FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup, where USA came out on top 4-2. It has been 22 years since they competed against New Zealand at the 2003 FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup in the 11th-12th place game. Following going 5-5 in regulation, USA won 3-2 in penalty strokes, where head coach Cota and athlete Harris were on the roster.
Participation in the 2025 Nkosi Cup would not be possible without the generous and continued support from the United States Men’s Field Hockey Foundation.
Due to the timing of outdoor events, college commitments and other challenges, there will be no U.S. Men’s National Indoor Team tryout in late 2025. The current squad is automatically eligible for selections of events in 2026. All current rostered outdoor senior, A Team and U-21 members are also in the eligibility pool for the indoor program. The men’s indoor program will look to confirm a tryout date in 2026.
For more information regarding the upcoming Nkosi Cup, including the full schedule, visit the event page by clicking here.
