Patrick Cota

Born:  14 June 1979

Position: Midfield

Height/Weight:  5-10, 170

International Caps: 64

International Goals: 6

Years on National Team:
1996 U.S. Under-18 Team
1997 U.S. Under-21 Team/Under-18 Team
1998 U.S. Under-21 Team
1999 U.S. National Team
2000 U.S. National Team
2001 U.S. National Team
2002 U.S. National Team
2003 U.S. National Team
2004 U.S. National Team
2005 U.S. National Squad
2006-07 U.S. National Squad
2007-08 U.S. National Squad

Regional Training Center: Moorpark

Hometown: Camarillo, Calif.

Residence: San Diego, Calif.

High School: Camarillo High School ('97)

College: UCLA/Michigan

Occupation: Account Executive/Owner
AttachPoint, Agora Hills, Calif.

Playing Career:

• Early  Career
  Began playing field hockey at age 13 after viewing a local demonstration at the junior high school. Soccer coach Chuck Valencia was his first hockey coach.
  
• International Career

  1996 - U.S. Under-18 Team...1997- U.S. Under-21/Under-18 Teams...Junior 4 Nations Tournament (3rd/Moorpark)...1998 - U.S. Under-21 Team...U21 Barbados Tour...World Cities Hockey Indoor Championship, Glasgow, Scotland...1999 - U.S. National Team/US Under-20 Team...European Tour...U.S. Pan American Games team (5th)...2000- U.S. National Team...Placed 9th with the U21 Team at the Field Hockey Canada National Championships...2001 - U.S. National Team...World Cup Qualifying Tournament team (14th)...2002 - U.S. National Team...Pan American Indoor Cup (2nd/ Rockville, Md.)...Mexico 4 Nation Tournament (2nd/Salamanca)... 2003 - U.S. National Team...1st Indoor World Cup (11th/Leipzig, GER)...Pan American Cup Qualifying Tournament (2nd/Santo Domingo)...USA Eagles California Cup champions...Pan American Games (5th/Santo Domingo)...2004 - U.S. national Squad...Pan American Cup Team... 2005 - U.S. National Squad...2006 - U.S. National Squad...Canada Test Series (Chula Vista, Calif.)...USA vs. Trinidad & Tobago Test Series (Virginia Beach, Va.)...2007 -USA vs. Mexico Pan American Games Qualifying Series (USA wins series 2-0-1)...USA vs. Trinidad & Tobago tour (Port of Spain, TRI; USA wins series 4-0)...China 4 Nation Tournament Team (4th, CHN, JPN, EGY, USA - Lanzhou City, CHN)...XV Pan American Games Team (Rio de Janeiro, 7th)...2008 - Captain, Olympic Qualifying Tournament Team (Auckland, NZL, 6th)
  
   

• National
  2006 - Won USA Field Hockey Men's National Championship with Moorpark High Performance Center...2007 - Won USA Field Men's National Championship with Moorpark High Performance Center
  
  High Performance Training Center: Moorpark

  Club: Camarillo Cougars; Rot-Weiss Köln, Germany (2002-03); Univ. of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia (2001)
  
  Other: Recipient of the Field Hockey Federation Narinder Gill Award as Athlete of the Year

• Personal
  
  Career High: Playing in the indoor World Cup (but the best is yet to come)
  Career Low: Losing to Chile in the semifinals of the 2000 Junior Pan Ams
  Sport Ambition: To win Pan American gold and compete in the Olympic Games
  Ambition after field hockey: Graduate and coach hockey
  The most influential people in sporting career: My parents. They support me in everything I do.
  Favorite place to play: Australia. One of the best leagues in the world (NHL) and some of the best beaches to surf.
  Other than U.S. Athletes, which international players would you want to have as your teammates: Stephan Veen (NED) and Michael Green (GER)
  I can't live without: Junk food
  Other than field hockey, my favorite Olympic sport is: wrestling and volleyball
  The field hockey rule I hate the most: Being 5 meters on reception of overheads
  Favorites: Food: Mexican;  Movie: The Graduate; TV show: Seinfeld; Pro Team: Lakers, Real Madrid; Musical Group: U2, Dave Matthews Band; Athlete: Lance Armstrong, Michael Jordan
  Hobbies: Surfing, mountain biking
  

Major International Tours & Competitions: