INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has named KAP7 International, Inc. (KAP7) as the Exclusive and Official Championship Water Polo Game Ball provider.

Designed to meet guidelines for local, national and global specifications, each KAP7 ball is constructed with extreme care and quality.  With years of industry experience, specific design elements and top of the line materials, KAP7 has created the long lasting and extremely tacky HydroGrip for all levels of competition.  KAP7 offers five sizes of balls.  The KAP7 104 and 105 will be specifically used in NCAA competition.

"KAP7 is extremely excited to partner with the NCAA to be the Official Water Polo Ball Supplier," said Todd Snider, CEO of KAP7.  "This is a milestone for our company.  With the many years of involvement both on and off the pool deck by Co-Founders Bradley Schumacher, Wolf Wigo and the KAP7 team, we are proud to see our product showcased at the highest level of collegiate competition."

Co-Founder Bradley Schumacher commented, "As a former NCAA competitor, I am very excited for the opportunity to support water polo student athletes.  At KAP7, we have all been fortunate enough to take the lessons learned as athletes in the collegiate environment and apply them to achieve both business and lifetime goals.  I look forward to seeing the athletes compete with the KAP7 NCAA Official Water Polo Ball."

"The NCAA is proud to partner with KAP7 at the NCAA water polo championships," said Peter Davis, NCAA director of corporate alliances.   "We’re also proud to partner with former NCAA student-athletes who have firsthand experience with our water polo championships and now know the nature of this business.  We look forward to KAP7’s support and innovation in the future."

KAP7 entered the collegiate market on July 18, 2007 when the organization reached an agreement with the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) to implement Kap7 as the official ball for the CWPA's more than 280 men's and women's varsity and National Collegiate Club programs around the country.

With the announcement of the NCAA's partnership with KAP7, the company is now the official ball for eight national/league championships including the Men's Division III Collegiate Club, Men's National Collegiate Club Championship, CWPA Men's Eastern Championship, Men's NCAA Championship, Women's National Collegiate Club Championship, Women's NCAA Championship, CWPA Women's Eastern Championship and CWPA Women's Division III Eastern Championship.

Founded by aquatics greats Wolf Wigo and Bradley Schumacher in 2004 to design and build innovative world class products “for water polo players, by water polo players”, KAP7 is on the leading edge of the world market serving as the official distributor of Turbo suits in the United States.

“They represent a young company that is aggressively supporting the sport of water polo in many ways,” notetd CWPA Commissioner Dan Sharadin.

A three-time Olympian, two-time NCAA Champion at Stanford University and three-time Pan America Games champion, Wigo established himself as one of the world's premier water polo players as an 11-year member of Team USA. In 1993, he joined the nation's elite squad and in 1996 he became the first player hailing from east of the Rockies to make the US Olympic water polo team since 1956 as he competed in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games.

After scoring a team-leading 16 goals during the 2000 games in Sydney, Wigo was named to the five-player All-World First Team by NBC Sports and USA Water Polo, making him a finalist for World Water Polo Player of the Year. He completed his tenure with the national squad in 2004 by serving as Team USA's captain in Athens. Selected as USA Water Polo's Male Athlete of the Year in 1999, 2000 and 2003, Wigo also helped the Americans win gold at the 1997 FINA World Cup.

An analyst on NBC Sports coverage of the Olympics in 2008 and the current head water polo coach at the University of California-Santa Barbara, Wigo's collegiate career at Stanford University was nearly as distinguished as he earned All-America honors four straight years and led the Cardinal to back-to-back NCAA titles in 1993 and 1994. As a senior captain Wigo was named Stanford's Outstanding Male Senior Athlete and NCAA Player of the Year.

His accomplishments are only matched by those of Schumacher.

A former freestyle swimmer, Schumacher won two gold medals as a member of the United States Men's 4x100 meter and 4x200 meter Freestyle Relay Teams at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. Four years later, he was a member of the US Men's Water Polo Team that placed in sixth place at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

The only aquatics athlete in the world to become a world champion in both swimming and water polo, he competed in the 1998 World Championships in both sports to become the first athlete to compete simultaneously at the World Class level since Bob Hughes at the 1956 Olympic Games.

He joined an elite group of athletes to compete in both sports at a world championship level as only Duke Khanamoku, Johnny Weissmuller, Bob Hughes and Matt Biondi also competed in water polo and swimming on the world level.

Schumacher has not strayed far from his roots as he serves as head coach of SET Water Polo Club in South Orange County, California.

For additional information about the NCAA Water Polo Championships and KAP7, please visit www.ncaa.org and www.kap7waterpolo.com.