Thirteen local players are members of the United States Men's National field hockey team seeking a top-five finish in the Pan American Games, which begin Sunday and conclude July 25 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The Americans are seeded sixth in the eight-team tournament and need the top-five finish to earn a spot in one of three Olympic Games qualifying tournaments in early 2008. Argentina is the top seed and defending champion in the Pan American Games.

The Pan American Games champion earns the continent's automatic berth to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Four of the players are from Thousand Oaks: Goalies Jeb Saez, 23; and Jason Wellings, 32; forward Ian Scally, 28; and defender Brian Schledorn, 30.

Simi Valley's Rinku Bhamber, 28, is a defender; and Jonathan Ginolfi, 18, is a midfielder.

Camarillo's Pat Cota, 28, and Shawn Nakamura, 29, are defenders.

Moorpark's Jed Cunningham, 19, is a forward; Sean Harris, 20; and Pat Harris, 22, are midfielders.

Binh Hoang, 33, is a forward from Westlake Village. Remco Couwenbergh, 20, is a midfielder from Northridge.

The Americans haven't participated in field hockey in the Olympics since 1996 when they were hosts and earned an automatic berth. The same thing happened in 1984 on Los Angeles.

When the California Cup field hockey tournament was founded at Moorpark College in the early 1970s, local players begin their quest of playing internationally, competing in the Pam American Games and Olympics. Local leagues and clinics have produced enough players to keep the area thriving in field hockey.

Nick Conway is the head coach for the United States team. Jarred Martin of Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; Mick Harner of Hanover, Pa.; and Nate Coolidge of Sandwich, Mass., round out the roster.

Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and host Brazil will comprise Pool 1. The United States, Canada, Cuba and Netherlands Antilles will be in Pool B.

Bhamber is making his third trip to the Pan American Games. He was on fifth-place teams in Winnipeg, Canada, in 1999 and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in 2003. Bhamber is a Royal High graduate and has appeared in 52 international matches.

Cota is making his third Pan American Games appearance since 1999. He's on the USA Field Hockey Board of Directors and vice-captain of the Pan Am team. He's a 1997 graduate of Camarillo High.

Cowenbergh made his international debut in the Pan Am qualifying series in Mexico.

Cunningham was named the USA's Player of the Tournament at the China Four Nation Tournament in June.

Pat Harris is one of the leading scorers with 29 career goals in 43 international matches. He was 15 when he became a national team player in 2000. He was the 2005 Junior Pan Am Cup Player of the Tournament. Harris is a 2005 Moorpark High graduate.

Sean Harris was on the fourth-place junior national team in 2005.

Hoang, a graduate of Cal Lutheran and Westlake, has scored 11 goals in 25 international matches.

Saez earned a 3-0 shutout against Mexico in his first international start in 2001.

Scally, a 1997 Oak Park graduate, was a 2003 Pan American Games player. Scally's grandfather, Luis (1948) and father Gabriel (1968 and 1972) represented Argentina at the Olympic Games.

Schledorn is an assistant field hockey coach at Rutgers.

Wellings has a law degree from the University of Central England and has been a USA player since 2002.

The United States has participated in every Pan American Games since 1967, when field hockey was added to the competition. In the 1995 Pan American Games in Mar de Plata, Argentina, the Americans earned a bronze medal.

Information: http://www.usfieldhockey.com.