BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — The Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) will launch its fourth National Collegiate Club Championship this Spring as the league announces the creation of the Women’s Division III Collegiate Club Championship. The inaugural/2019 event will occur on Saturday-Sunday, April 27-28, at a site to be determined.
The Women’s Division III Championship joins the Men’s Division III, Men’s National Collegiate Club and Women’s National Collegiate Club Championships.
Currently, eight divisions currently field women’s Division III club programs:
- Heartland Division (Augustana College, Carleton College, Grinnell College, Knox College, Saint Mary’s University (Minn.))
- Mid-Atlantic Division (Carnegie Mellon University)
- Midwest Division (Washington University in St. Louis, Calvin University)
- New England Division (Wesleyan University, Williams College)
- New York Division (New York University)
- North Atlantic Division (Bates College, Bowdoin College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Middlebury College, Wellesley College, Tufts University, United States Coast Guard Academy)
- Sierra Pacific Division (University of California-Santa Cruz)
- Southeast Division (Emory University)
The highest finishing Division III institution from a division, as well as the hosting institution, will have the right to attend the championship. Teams must declare their intention to attend the championship at the start of the season by February 1. If a division elects not to participate in the 2019 event, and for the purpose of having a six-to-eight team championship field, the runner-up from the North Atlantic Division will be invited followed by the runner-up from the Heartland and New England Divisions. This decision was based on the quantity of Division III teams currently participating in those three divisions. The format for all future Women’s Division III National Collegiate Club Championships will be revisited following the conclusion of the 2019 season.
Seeding for the championship, as determined during a conference call between the programs, will occur randomly with two stipulations:
- The host institution will assume the final position in the tournament field unless the program won its division. In this case, the host institution will take the higher random seed and the division runner-up will take the final position.
- No division will play another institution from the same division in the first round. In this case, the seed for the second team selected will be randomly drawn again.
Questions regarding the Women’s Division III National Collegiate Club Championship can be directed to the CWPA office by emailing office@collegiatewaterpolo.org.
