2021-22 Junior & Senior U.S. Men’s National Indoor Teams & Coaches Named

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Following an in-person tryout on March 27 and virtual/online submissions due to travel restrictions, the 2021-22 Junior and Senior U.S. Men’s National Indoor Teams and coaching staffs have been named.

2021-22 Junior U.S. Men’s National Indoor Team:

Matthew Barraco (Allentown, Pa.), Zane Boler (Lewisberry, Pa.), Gavin Chung (Glen Ridge, N.J.), Koehl Comiskey (Dallas, Pa.), Michael Egan (Chatham, N.J.), Benedikt Guth (Madison, N.J.), Donatus Guth (Madison, N.J.), Ishaq Inayat (Princeton, N.J.), Tyler Kim (Fredicksburg, Va.), Colin Kirkpatrick (Annville, Pa.), Toby Peck (Downingtown, Pa.), James Polashock (Hainesport, N.J.), Floris Van De Rotte (Old Greenwich, Conn.), Jack Weitzman (Fulton, Md.)

Eight athletes on the Junior Indoor USMNT were named to last year’s squad in Matthew Barraco, Zane Boler, Gavin Chung, Koehl Comiskey, Ishaq Inayat, Tyler Kim, Colin Kirkpatrick and Toby Peck. There is also representation on the outdoor Junior U.S. Men’s National Training Squads in Zane, Gavin, Ishaq, Tyler, Colin, Toby and Jack Weitzman.

Leading the Junior Indoor USMNT as head coach is Erik Enters, who brings more than 30 years of playing and coaching experience to the program. His resume includes coaching at all levels from camps, clinics and private lessons, to middle school, high school and elite club hockey, as well as assisting the U.S. Women’s National Indoor Team and coaching the Junior Indoor USMNT (2019 & 2020). Enters has been the head varsity coach at Perkiomen Valley High School since 2009 and has coached dozens of athletes who have gone on to play collegiately. He is also a coach for Philly Hockey Club.

Enters began his playing career in 1986 in the North East Field Hockey Association (NEFHA) with Greenwich FHC and played for multiple teams over the course of 20 years. He was a member of Philly Hockey Team in the former North American Premier Indoor League (NAPL) from 1999 to 2005 and played multiple international tournaments as a member of the U.S. Men’s National Indoor Team from 2005 to 2010.

Enters has worked in the public education system for the past 28 years and serves as the college counselor at Upper Merion Area High School.

Rachael Bloemker, who has been helping with the junior men’s indoor side since 2019, will be the assistant coach of the program. She is the co-founder and director of Junior Premier League, which was established in 2012. She has extensive coaching experience at many levels. In 2019, she was the assistant coach for the U.S. O-40 Women’s Masters Indoor Team who earned a fourth place finish at the World Masters Hockey (WMH) Masters Indoor World Cup in Hong Kong.

As an athlete, Bloemker was a member of the U.S. Women’s National Indoor Team from 2008 to 2015, competing in several Indoor Pan American Cups and international events. Prior to that, she played for Glasgow Western Ladies First Team (2008-2009) in Scotland and won the National Division Club Cup and Spirit Hockey Club Ladies First team in Nederlands First Class Division (2006-2007).

A native of Philadelphia, Bloemker is a 2006 graduate of Drexel University, where she was a four-year letter winner who earned multiple personal accolades. She holds a Bachelor of Science in sports management with a business minor and is a certified USA Field Hockey Level II Coach and Level I Umpire.

2021-22 U.S. Men’s National Indoor Team:

James Albanese (Mercerville, N.J.), Brett Andrews (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Shomik Chakraborty (Washington, D.C.), Christian DeAngelis (Doylestown, Pa.), Ajai Dhadwal (Agoura Hills, Calif.), Mohan Gandhi (Ventura, Calif.), Alex Grassi (Brookeville, Md.), Pat Harris (Moorpark, Calif.), Vincent Heller (Stuttgart, Germany), Colin Hennessy (Marlborough, Mass.), Darian Isla (Hypoluxo, Fla.), Aki Kaeppeler (Stuttgart, Germany), Kei Kaeppeler (Stuttgart, Germany), JaJa Kentwell (Spring City, Pa.), Jonathan Klages (Berlin, Germany), Barry Merriman (Washington, D.C.), Julius Mouser (Jersey City, N.J.), Izaak Pels (Spring City, Pa.), Christopher Pothier (Shrewsbury, Mass.), Nicholas Richardson (Sunapee, N.H.), Moritz Ruenzi (Muenchen, Germany), Dean Schiller (Alexandria, Va.), Scott Sherban (Dublin, Ohio), Asdeep Singh (Baltimore, Md.), Paul Singh (Simi Valley, Calif.), Damien Tarala (Norwalk, Conn.)

A total of 14 athletes selected to the Senior Indoor USMNT were on last year’s roster. Ten athletes selected are currently involved in the senior outdoor program. Leading the 2021-22 squad is Patrick Harris who has competed in four Indoor Pan American Cups, including the very first edition in 2002. Moritz Ruenzi competed in the event in 2010 and 2014 and Ajai Dhadwal, Mohan Gandhi and JaJa Kentwell were all on the 2014 roster.

Jason Mulder will be the head coach of the Senior Indoor USMNT. Mulder was previously a special consultant to the junior and senior program and is currently an assistant coach at Towson University.
Mulder hails from Cape Town, South Africa and began his coaching career in 2009 at Central Hockey Club. Most recently he was a volunteer assistant at Syracuse University, Bryant University and the University of Maryland before joining the Tigers.
From 2013 to 2016, he coached the state Western Province boy's U-19 team to three consecutive national championships. Mulder is not short of international experience, from 2015 to 2017 he served as the head coach of the South African U-17 team and was one of the South African men's team assistant coaches and technical analysts.
Mulder pursued coaching science at ETA College in South Africa with a concentration in coaching hockey, and he is also a qualified Level 2 Coach and Level 1 Coach Facilitator. To add to his field hockey experience, Mulder was also the chief operating officer of Sportways SA, the biggest field hockey coaching company in the world.

Mulder will be assisted by Enters, and Nigel Traverso will serve as the team manager and Sebastian Blink as the tactical specialist.

Traverso is the co-founder and director of Junior Premier League and the Big Apple Hockey Federation (BAHF), and their supporting tournament and leagues. He has a lengthy resume of managerial experience having been on staff of the Senior Indoor USMNT program from 2000 to 2016, including at international events including the 2003 and 2011 Indoor Hockey World Cups.

As a coach, Traverso has been active within the USA Field Hockey organization since 1997, having served as the U.S. Men’s National Team’s assistant coach until 2002. During that stint, he aided the team at the 1999 Pan American Games. From 2000 to 2016, he was also the assistant coach of the Senior Indoor USMNT. Presently, Traverso is the head U-19 coach of the club, Jersey Intensity Field Hockey.

Traverso is a Los Angeles 1984 Olympian, being part of the USMNT from 1983 to 1995. He represented Team USA at countless international competitions including the 1983, 1991 and 1995 Pan American Games, 1989 Inter Continental Cup and 1991 Olympic Qualifier.

In 2014, Traverso was inducted into the USA Field Hockey Hall of Fame and has been the director and stand on many committees within USA Field Hockey, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, Pan American Hockey Federation and International Hockey Federation. He currently holds a USA Field Hockey Level II Coaching Certification.

Blink (née Scheurer) is a full-time coach at Mannheimer HC, where he leads the U-12 and U-16 boys’ teams, and he is the head of the men’s team at Feudenheimer HC, who are playing in the 3rd German Division. He has an all-encompassing experience having coached all levels in Germany.

As an athlete, Blink represented Team USA at the 2005 and 2014 Indoor Pan American Cups. He was part of the outdoor junior team that competed at the men’s 2008 Junior Pan American Games and 2009 U-21 World Cup. He also played with the German Bundesliga, Germany’s premier field hockey league.

Training for both the Junior and Senior Indoor USMNT will begin in mid-April in both the United States and Europe. Selections for the 2021 Indoor Pan American Cup, to be held in June in the United States, will be made after an upcoming training camp in Europe.

There is a secondary Indoor USMNT tryout scheduled for Saturday, May 15 for athletes who registered but were unable to attend due to travel, college or other commitments.