Not Sweating the Neighborhood

Special mention: Tiger Woods / Falling out of the group of 10 but impossible to go without mentioning is the child prodigy who grew up in Cypress, smashing color barriers in the game of golf on his way to the top: Tiger Woods. The 1996 PGA Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year almost every year from 1997 to 2009 has won 14 major championships. But his personal life has been his undoing, with a long string of extra-marital affairs giving his image a major bruising. But Americans do love a second chance.

Teemu Selanne / There is no player in Anaheim Ducks history – mighty or otherwise – better or more beloved than “the Finnish Flash.” Coto de Caza resident Teemu Selanne was part of the Ducks' deadly scoring combination in the 1990s along with Paul Kariya and Steve Rucchin. After playing with the San Jose Sharks and Colorado Avalanche, he returned to the Ducks in 2005, where he scored his one-thousandth NHL goal in 2006 and helped the Ducks win the Stanley Cup in 2007. The Helsinki-born player has been a key member of Finland's Olympic hockey team and is the all-time points leader in Olympic hockey. Later this year, Selanne will open his own restaurant, the Selanne Steak Tavern, in Laguna Beach.

Kobe Bryant / Laker fans will argue for a long time as to who the all-time greatest Lakers player is. Current Laker and Newport Beach resident Kobe Bryant might always battle Magic Johnson for that distinction, but Bryant is the only one of the two to make his home here in the county. Bryant has five NBA titles, a Most Valuable Player award and is one of the top scorers in NBA history. A sexual assault allegation in 2003 did much to tarnish his image, and it's never quite recovered, but his prestige as one of the world's greatest and most famous basketball players is indisputable.

Courtney Conlogue / Santa Ana's Courtney Conlogue is the great American hope for women's surfing. Since Lisa Andersen's world championship run in the 1990s, no other American mainland surfer has generated the buzz on the ASP Women's World Tour that Conlogue has. She qualified for the women's elite tour in 2010 while finishing Sage Hill School with honors. At just 20 years old, she is currently ranked third after reaching her second U.S. Open of Surfing final in Huntington Beach this past July. Already a national amateur champ, ISA gold medal winner and champion of contests in Europe, Australia and the world's largest contest, the U.S. Open, Conlogue is a legitimate threat for the first American world title in a generation.

Lindsay Davenport / The 1990s were a good time for American tennis, with Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras and Laguna Beach's Lindsay Davenport making themselves the top players in the game. During Davenport's career, she made a name for herself as one of the new generation of aggressive and powerful players in women's tennis, where she won four Grand Slam singles events and nine in doubles as well as an Olympic gold medal in Atlanta. She also finished the year ranked number one in 1998, 2001, 2004, and 2005. Only Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf have accomplished the same feat.

Janet Evans / Placentia's diminutive four-time Olympic gold medalist Janet Evans beat bigger and stronger swimmers on a regular basis during her career using her famous windmill stroke, and is the third-most decorated American swimmer in the sport's history. But Evans has become almost as well-known for her big smile. She broke world records in the 1980s for the 400-, 800- and 1,500-meter freestyle races that took nearly 20 years to be topped. Evans has won more U.S. National Championships in the 400 and 800 than any other American swimmer and showed off her hyper-fit post-baby body on the 2008 NBC show “Celebrity Circus.”

Karch Kiraly / Kiraly is Hungarian for “king,” and in the world of volleyball, that's what San Clemente's Karch Kiraly is. So far the only player to win Olympic gold medals in both indoor and beach volleyball, Kiraly is the most decorated men's volleyball player in the sport's history. His nearly 30-year playing career started on the beach, then moved indoors, where he led the UCLA Bruins to two undefeated seasons and three NCAA championships. His US team won gold in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics. He then returned to the beach, became the game's most popular player, and along with partner Kent Steffes, won the first men's Olympic gold on the sand in Atlanta in 1996. As a marvel of fitness, Kiraly continued to win well into his 40s, beating players half his age. He now serves as head of the US women's indoor team. And for you trivia buffs, he actually babysat the game's other greatest player, Misty May-Treanor.

Greg Long / San Clemente's Greg Long might have the greatest career ever in big wave surfing. The defending world champion and the only surfer to win the sport's two most prestigious events – the Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau Invitational and the Mavericks Surf Contest – also has more XXL Big Wave Awards than any other surfer on the planet. A devoted vegetarian, a yoga and fitness fanatic, no surfer seems to be more prepared to find and ride the biggest swells anywhere in the world at any time.

Misty May-Treanor / Costa Mesa's Misty May-Treanor is exactly one-half of the greatest beach volleyball team in the game's history. No other team – men's or women's – even comes close. May-Treanor was a two-time NCAA All-American and Player of the Year in college, leading her Long Beach State team to an undefeated season and national championship. On the beach, she was even better. Between winning gold in the 2004 Athens Olympics and winning gold in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she and partner Kerri Walsh Jennings were very nearly invincible on either the domestic or international circuit, displaying a kind of dominance that is extremely rare in any sport. They ended their magical ride together with a third gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics before May-Treanor retired. She now concentrates much of her time in coaching.

Ryan Scheckler / Though success in skateboarding isn't measured by the same means as other sports, San Clemente's Ryan Scheckler is one of its top stars. With multiple X Games medals and event victories, he parlayed his success as a teenage skater into a two-season stint as star of MTV's “Life of Ryan” reality show in 2007 and 2008. Also in 2008, he founded the Scheckler Foundation to empower kids and young athletes.

Mike Trout / Number 10 with a bullet, to use the music chart parlance, is Mike Trout. The 2012 American League Rookie of the Year remains something to watch this season. Even in an otherwise forgettable season for the Angels, Trout is a highlight. He is considered by some as a “five-tool player,” which means he can hit for average, hit for power, steal bases, and make great catches and great throws from the outfield. He nearly won the American League's Most Valuable Player award last season as well. Fortunately for local baseball fans, his future appears as bright as a halo.