Involved in the sport of water polo since high school, Sharadin graduated from West Virginia University in 1979 with a Bachelor’s in Commercial Recreation prior to completing a Masters in Business Administration in 1981.

Following graduation he founded the non-profit organization, Young Athletes of America (YAA) to give the less athletically gifted an opportunity to play organized sports. One of the programs created through YAA was the Eastern Water Polo League (EWPL), a large multi-division structure that included teams from all over the eastern seaboard. Its success led coaches to question whether a similar structure would work within the collegiate ranks. Sharadin was asked if he would serve as part-time Commissioner of a small group of college teams known then as the Mid Atlantic Conference, for the purpose of providing basic services including scheduling and publishing a league program.

The head men’s water polo coach at Villanova University since 1983, he became the first commissioner and only commissioner in league history in 1990.

He began his duties with the CWPA in an age when fax machines were the newest development in office efficiency. Since that time many changes have taken place, including the merger of the New England and Southern Conferences in the early 1990’s, the addition of women’s water polo in the mid 1990’s and its presence as a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship sport in 2000 and the rise of collegiate club competition for both men and women over the past 30 years. During a portion of this period he worked with United States Water Polo for the purpose of collegiate development and was pivotal in the addition of programs for men and women throughout the country.

Since its inception, the CWPA has grown in size to become the largest water polo conference and the third largest collegiate athletics organization in the country. Today over 80% of all collegiate contests are played under the auspices of the CWPA. Sharadin now oversees a staff that has evolved from a part-time commissioner to full-time staff, a coordinator of officials, an organizational budget of nearly a million dollars and a place as the most pivotal collegiate organization in the sport.

Beyond his service to the CWPA, Sharadin has made his name in other areas of the game.

The founder of American Water Polo (AWP) – an age-group association that organizes competitive play throughout the country for thousands of athletes ages 10-to-18 and beyond – Sharadin also made his mark on the pool deck with USA Water Polo as he helped lead the Annapolis team – which featured future Olympians Wolf Wigo and Brad Schumacher – to the 17U Junior Olympic National Championship. It marked the first non-California school to win a JO Championship – and the last as nobody has since equaled the mark.

Dan Sharadin & CWPA Hall of Fame member Tom Tracey

Dan Sharadin discusses officiating with Ed Reed & Bret Bernard

Collegiate Water Polo Association Hall of Fame members (L-R): Toy Paxton, Ed Reed, Mike Schofield, Dan Sharadin, John Benedick, Tom Tracey, George Gross, Mark Gensheimer