Located within the heart of the hotbed of college water polo, the Western Water Polo Association continues to grow as a men’s water polo and women’s water polo conference competing at the NCAA Division I level.
The league began sending teams to the National Collegiate Water Polo Championships in 1981 on the men’s side and in 2001 on the women’s side when the NCAA added the sport to its long list of championships. The current structure of the WWPA includes nine teams on the women’s side and 12 on the men. In 2010-11, the WWPA membership included:
Air Force Academy
Chapman
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges
University of LaVerne
Loyola Marymount
Occidental College
Pomona-Pitzer Colleges
Univeristy of Redlands
Santa Clara
UC Davis
UC San Diego
Whittier
Cal State Bakersfield
Cal State East Bay
Cal State Monterey Bay
Cal state San Bernardino
Colorado State
Loyola Marymount
Santa Clara
Sonoma State
UC San Diego
Founded in 1981, the original charter members of the WWPA include current members LMU (women only, joined men in 1987), Santa Clara, UC Davis, UC San Diego, Claremont, Pomona-Pitzer, Air Force, and Cal State Bakersfield. On the men’s side, Occidental joined in 1988, followed by Redlands in 1990, Whittier in 1992, Chapman in 1994 and La Verne in 1998. On the women’s side, CSUSB joined in 2001, CSUEB in 2002, Sonoma State in 2004 and Colorado State and CSUMB in 2005.
The WWPA use to also include:
Men’s Programs
Brigham Young University, Hawaii (Withdrew 2006, Joined 2002)
California Institute of Technology (Unknown, Joined 1992)
California State University, Los Angeles (Withdrew 1991, Charter Member)
California State University, San Bernardino (Withdrew 1991, Joined 1990)
Chaminade University (Withdrew 2006, Charter Member)
Dominican (Withdrew 1989, Charter Member)
Loyola University – Chicago (Withdrew 1989, Charter Member)
University of California, Riverside (Withdrew 1994, Joined 1988)
University of Utah (Withdrew 1989, Charter Member)
University of California, Santa Cruz (Withdrew 2009, Joined 1997)
Women’s Programs
California Lutheran University (Withdrew 2005, Joined in 2004)
California Institute of Technology (Withdrew 2005, Joined 2004)
Claremont-Mudd Scripps Colleges (Withdrew 2005, Charter Member)
Occidental College (Withdrew 2005, Charter Member)
Pomona Pitzer Colleges (Withdrew 2005, Charter Member)
University of La Verne (Withdrew 2005, Charter Member)
University of Redlands (Withdrew 2005, Charter Member)
Whittier College (Withdrew 2005, Charter Member)
University of California, Santa Cruz (Withdrew 2009, Charter Member)
Chapman University (Withdrew 2010, Joined 1992)
The WWPA competes within the NCAA and qualifies for the NCAA’s automaticc bid to the National Collegiate Water Polo Championships for both the men (fall sport) and women (spring). The WWPA features a championship tournament at the conclusion of both the men’s and women’s seasons, with the winner earning the league’s automatic bid to the NCAAs. The men’s championships normally runs the third weekend of November while the women’s takes place the final weekend of April.
The league is governed by the Executive Committee, which includes the Director of Athletics (or a designated representative) from each WWPA Institutions. The Executive Committee then elects a President of the Association, which presides as chair for all Executive Committee meetings and supervises the WWPA Commissioner. The Commissioner is then charges with the day-to-day operation of the WWPA.
WWPA Partners with KAP7
WWPA announces three-year partnership with KAP7 as official ball partner for both men’s and women’s water polo.
KAP7 will begin its sponsorship this season, including the 2011 WWPA Men’s Water Polo Championship, Nov. 17-20, 2011 and the 2012 WWPA Women’s Water Polo Championship, April 27-29, 2012. Both championships will be held at UC San Diego.
In addition, KAP7 well partner with the WWPA to honor its athletes of the week
throughout each season. KAP7 has previously reached similar partnerships with the NCAA, Collegiate Water Polo Association, the MPSF, and USA Water Polo. In 2007, the company’s ball was initially implemented by nearly 300 national varsity and club programs from the CWPA, and recently became the official ball for eight different national and league finals, including the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Championships.
Five different sizes of balls are offered by KAP7, though the 104 and 105 brands will be specifically used in all NCAA competition. KAP7 International, Inc was founded in 2004 by former United States Olympians Bradley Schumacher and Wolf Wigo (also the current UC Santa Barbara Head Coach), and is now comprised of five former collegiate athletes. Combined, they own seven NCAA Water Polo Titles and have participated in three NCAA Swimming Championships.
“Built by water polo players, for water polo players,” KAP7 has served the purpose of designing and building innovative world-class products with extreme care and quality for water polo communities around the globe.
“The WWPA is pleased to enter into a partnership with KAP7 as our official water polo ball sponsor,” says WWPA Commissioner Ellen Moore. “This is a great partnership for our league. The KAP7 ball is also the official NCAA ball, and it was important for our teams to play with the same ball that will be used at the NCAA championships. The leadership of KAP7 has helped translate this ball into a superior product that will serve WWPA student-athletes and the collegiate game well.”
THE COMMISSIONER - Ellen Moore
In May of 2011, the Western Water Polo Association has named Ellen Moore as commissioner, beginning at the conclusion of this weekend’s National Collegiate Women’s Water Polo Championships. Moore becomes the water polo conference’s third commissioner.
"I'm excited to pursue this opportunity with the WWPA, allowing me to combine my conference administration experience with my athletics background in order to be an advocate on behalf of our membership and the student-athletes,” said Moore. “The Western region is undeniably the hot bed of college water polo and I am confident the WWPA can be an impact player. I look forward to working with our coaches, administrators and student-athletes and am enthusiastic about the overall future of the WWPA."
Moore is taking over for Andy Takata, who is leaving to focus on his full time job as City Manager of Banning, Calif. Takata was commissioner from 2006 through 2011. Takata took over for John Montrella, who was instrumental in the formation of the WWPA. Takata
"I have enjoyed working with this fantastic organization, the administrators, coaches and the most important element the student-athletes,” said Takata. “We have progressed to a well-respected conference and the organization has gotten better every year. The WWPA has tremendous possibilities and I am happy to turn it over to the very capable hands of Ellen Moore.”
Moore takes over a league located within the heart of the hotbed of college water polo. The league began sending teams to the National Collegiate Water Polo Championships in 1981 on the men’s side and in 2001 on the women’s side when the NCAA added the sport to its long list of championships. The current structure of the WWPA includes nine teams on the women’s side and 12 on the men.
Moore was a softball player at Georgia Tech, graduating in 2001 with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering. She then earned her Masters of Arts in Sports Management in 2005 from the University of San Francisco.
Following graduation, she was a marketing and promotions assistant at San Francisco and then served as a Communications Assistant for the West Coast Conference in 2004-05. She was then hired by the WCC as the Director of Championships, serving in that role from 2006 through 2009.
In 2009 she became the commissioner of the Pacific Coast Softball Conference and also runs her own design firm which includes web development for the Sacramento Running Association and the California International Marathon.
- WWPA -
2011 WWPA Women’s Champions - UC San Diego
2011 WWPA Men’s Champions - UC San Diego