BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — To aid in the growth of water polo, the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) has launched a new program to encourage graduating athletes to remain involved in the sport as either coaches, referees or mentors.
Coaching: The vast majority of collegiate club programs exist without any official coach. For most of these teams, they lack the advantage of learning from someone with more knowledge and experience, which can be frustrating and discouraging and in some cases, reasons for the team to disband. To combat this problem, we want to engage individuals that are willing to serve as coaches for collegiate club teams.
Officiating: There are areas of the country with competitive divisions and very few officials (sometimes none at all). Officiating affords the opportunity to stay involved in the sport without a huge time commitment. We are looking to target individuals with an even temperament, a willingness to learn, and a solid knowledge of the game to serve in this capacity.
Administrative Support: Every healthy club team should have a leadership group with at least three individuals: player/coach, administrator, and recruiter/social director. Unfortunately, all three learn on the job and in many situations, get burned out or disillusioned with their responsibilities. By providing mentors to the leaders of new programs and those at risk of dropping, we can give these individuals the chance to learn best practices at a peer to peer level.
How the Program Works: The CWPA will provide training through webinars, seminars, mentoring, and phone calls for each of the three areas. Our goal is to equip the coaches, referees, and mentors with the tools to be successful in this process.
How You Can Help: The league is asking its alumni to get involved in one of these three areas. For more information on how to get involved, contact the office and ask for Tom Tracey, at 610-277-6787, tracey@collegiatewaterpolo.org.
