INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recently published the 2020-21 NCAA Sports Sponsorship & Participation Rates Report.
The NCAA Sports Sponsorship & Participation Rates Report provides statistical information regarding participation and sponsorship in intercollegiate athletics at NCAA member institutions. This information provides a general view of historical trends in participation and sponsorship by gender, sport and division. Much of this information has been collected in detail since the 1981-82 academic year. This information is self-reported retroactively by all NCAA member institutions on an annual basis.
Listed on pages 144-145 of the 2020-21 report, men’s water polo shows a moderate decline in the number of total athletes (1,033) and squad size (21.1) for all divisions compared to the 2019-20 report totals of 1,100 and 22.4.
In Division I, a total of 26 institutions sponsored men’s water polo in 2020-21 (a total of 7.4% of the 350 Division I schools in the NCAA) with 614 athletes for typical squad size of 23.6 competitors.
Comparatively, a total of eight Division II schools (2.6% of all 308 Division II schools) sponsor men’s water polo with 161 athletes averaging to a size of 20.1 per team.
In Division III, 15 of 442 institutions (3.4%) sponsor men’s water polo with 258 athletes averaging out to an average squad size of 17.2 athletes.
Overall, the number of schools competing in men’s water polo remains steady at 49 since increasing to the total prior to the 2018-19 academic year. The 49 programs mark the most men’s varsity water polo teams since posting 54 in 1990-91 and off the high of 58 achieved in both 1987-88 and 1988-89.
By division, Division I gained one program in 2020-21 and saw an increase of one athlete (613-to-614) compared to the 2019-20 numbers. Division II remained steady at eight teams, but saw a decline in the number of athletes from 179 to 161. Last year’s 179 total marked the most men’s water polo athletes competing at NCAA Division II institutions since the sponsorship data became available in 1981-82.
Division III – which lost a program with the decision by Monmouth College to eliminate their men’s and women’s water programs – experiences a decline of 50 athletes compared to 2019-20 (258-to-308).
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