Mulder Names Men’s FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup Roster

LIÈGE, Belgium – With just 23 days to go until what would have been the start of the 2022 FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup (IHWC) in Liège, Belgium, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) announced that the event was canceled. U.S. Men’s National Indoor Team Head Coach Jason Mulder wants to recognize the achievement of the 12-athletes and two traveling alternates that were named to make that trip.

"It's hard to hear that the Indoor World Cup has been canceled,” said Mulder. “For the players and their families it's harder to accept, if you take into consideration all the sacrifices they have made up to this point. This is something we were hoping would never happen but it's a situation we must understand and accept. I have no doubt that the FIH and Belgium Hockey have made the best decision for the health and safety of the global community and that is something I'm happy to support.”

“We as an indoor program do feel it is important to recognize the following men who have earned themselves a spot on the Indoor World Cup Roster. Even though the event has been canceled it is important to recognize their achievement."

Five athletes and one reserve who represented USA at the 2021 Indoor Pan American Cup (IPAC), where the men finished second, were named to the roster. This talented group was to be led by Pat Harris (Moorpark, Calif.), the only rostered athlete who has competed in a previous IHWC and most capped men’s indoor player. It also included Ajai Dhadwal (Agoura Hills, Calif.), Aki Kaeppeler (New York, N.Y.), JaJa Kentwell (Spring City, Pa.) and goalkeeper Jonathan Klages (Berlin, Germany).

Ajai Dhadwal (Agoura Hills, Calif.), Mohan Gandhi (Ventura, Calif.), Pat Harris (Moorpark, Calif.), Jack Heldens (Hamburg, Germany), Deegan Huisman (Amsterdam, Netherlands), Aki Kaeppeler (New York, N.Y.), Kei Kaeppeler (Stuttgart, Germany), JaJa Kentwell (Spring City, Pa.), Jonathan Klages (Berlin, Germany), Moritz Ruenzi (Muechen, Germany), Robert Schilling (Hertford, United Kingdom), Kevin Segeren (The Hague, Netherlands)

The two traveling reserves were Christian DeAngelis (Doylestown, Pa.) and Vincent Heller (Stuttgart, Germany).

Mulder was set to lead the squad and Sebastian Blink would have served as the tactical specialist, with Nigel Traverso as the team manager, Kathy Schiller as the assistant manager and Ross Willis as the videographer and code analyst.

The last time that the indoor men’s program attended an IHWC was back in 2011 when it was in Poznan, Poland. Prior to that, they competed in 2003 when it was hosted in Leipzig, Germany. In both editions USA finished 11th, and they will look to up their final placement come February.