Western Water Polo Association
The Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) is a single sport intercollegiate college athletic conference sponsoring men's and women's water polo. The WWPA is affiliated with the NCAA, and includes 15 member institutions, mostly in California, with one institution each in Colorado, Illinois, and West Virginia and two in Erie, Pennsylvania. The league has eight teams in its men's league and nine in its women's league, with only Fresno Pacific and UC San Diego fielding teams for both sexes in the WWPA. The three easternmost schools, Gannon, Mercyhurst, and Salem, also field teams for both men and women, but only the women's teams are in the WWPA, with the men's teams instead playing in the Collegiate Water Polo Association.
Western Water Polo Association | |
---|---|
WWPA | |
Established | 1981 |
Association | NCAA |
Division | National Collegiate |
Members | 15 |
Sports fielded |
|
Region | Western United States, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia |
Commissioner | Christy Medigovich (since 2013) |
Website | thewwpa.com |
The WWPA members play a regular season of conference and non-conference games, followed by 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.[1]
Members
Because NCAA water polo for men and women is a spring sport, the year of joining is the calendar year before the first season of competition.
Men's teams
- UC San Diego — Primary conference moves to the NCAA D-I Big West Conference in 2020.
Women's teams
Institution | Location | Nickname | Joined | Primary Conference |
Division |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
California State University, East Bay | Hayward, California | Pioneers | 2002 | California | NCAA D-II |
California State University, Monterey Bay | Seaside, California | Otters | 2005 | California | NCAA D-II |
University of California, San Diego | La Jolla, California | Tritons | 1981 | California | NCAA D-II |
Fresno Pacific University | Fresno, California | Sunbirds | 2017 | Pacific West | NCAA D-II |
Gannon University | Erie, Pennsylvania | Golden Knights | 2014 | Pennsylvania State | NCAA D-II |
McKendree University | Lebanon, Illinois | Bearcats | 2017 | Great Lakes Valley | NCAA D-II |
Mercyhurst University | Erie, Pennsylvania | Lakers | 2015 | Pennsylvania State | NCAA D-II |
Salem University | Salem, West Virginia | Tigers | 2018 | Independent | NCAA D-II |
Sonoma State University | Rohnert Park, California | Seawolves | 2004 | California | NCAA D-II |
- UC San Diego — Women's water polo joins the Big West Conference in 2019, a year before it becomes a full member.
References
- "The WWPA". Western Water Polo Association. Retrieved June 4, 2011.