March 6, 2013
USA Water Polo appreciates that its players have a passion for the game, regardless the arena. Having athletes’ talents displayed outside of the club setting is an impressive feat for the organization and sport of water polo as a whole. USAWP is proud to have some of its best athletes competing at a collegiate level. As it is in any setting, college water polo is very competitive and challenging, testing the limits and abilities of all players involved.
Collegiate Water Polo
The Collegiate Water Polo Association is a non-profit athletic conference, separated into varsity and club programs, and features schools from all over the country. Competitions for conferences and non-conference teams are set up throughout the year for the athletes to showcase their abilities. Also, the CWPA selects All-Conference teams in the club and varsity divisions for both men and women. In order to become a member, the team must be comprised of full-time students attending the same four-year institution and be a recognized organization of their institution.
Unfortunately, this means that junior college water polo teams are excluded. However, some states have organizations that monitor rankings and statistics of these teams, presents community college water polo news, and provides playoff formats and rules.
Competition
Currently, there are six conferences in collegiate water polo for women, and four for men. They offer plenty of competition for both men and women across the country. The collegiate water polo conferences for men are the Western Water Polo Association, Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, and the Collegiate Water Polo Association. Women’s water polo belongs to the same conferences, as well as the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and the Big West Conference.
Additionally, many colleges have club water polo teams. According to the CWPA, there are currently 149 colleges around the country offering club water polo teams, regardless of whether or not they have varsity teams as well.
Rankings
Every week, the Collegiate Water Polo Association releases a list of college water polo rankings. The lists identify the top 20 college water polo teams and show their previous ranking as well as points earned. For the top 20 poll, there are 10 pollsters responsible for creating the list every week. They do so by examining only the week’s scores and do not take into account their personal feelings or factors that could have potentially affected a team’s performance.
USA Water Polo makes it a point to keep members and fans alike updated on news and rankings for college water polo. For updates on college water polo rankings, check out the Press Room on the USA Water Polo website.
Source: www.collegiatewaterpolo.org
