BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — For the second time in the history of the event, the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) announces that Villanova University will serve as the site for the Men’s Division III Collegiate Club Championship. The 2019 event will occur on Saturday-Sunday, November 2-3, in Villanova, Pa.
Featuring exclusively Division III member institutions from among the CWPA’s divisions, the tournament will crown the 20th men’s Division III Club Champion since the inaugural tournament in 1999
The event will be hosted by the league office in the Pavilion Swim Center, approximately 25 minutes from Philadelphia International Airport and the City of Brotherly Love. Teams attending the championship will have a multitude of hotel possibilities as Villanova is located within minutes of King of Prussia – home of the largest shopping mall in the country and close to Valley Forge National Historical Park.
This marks the third time overall and the second time in less than a year that Villanova will host a Division III Club Championship as the school served as site for the inaugural/2019 Women’s Division III Collegiate Club Championship on April 27-28.
VIllanova hosting occurs as none of the league’s Division III membership either possessed a facility capable of either holding the event, could acquire a functional facility or desired to serve as the championship site.
A schedule for the championship is being developed dependent upon the number of teams which wish/are eligible to compete. Currently, the league has sent out requests for interest to the following eligible teams:
- Colonial Division (Amherst College, Middlebury College, Wesleyan University, Williams College, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, United States Coast Guard Academy)
- Heartland Division (Augustana College, Grinnell College, Knox College, Macalester College, St. John’s Universty, St. Olaf College)
- Mid-Atlantic Division (Carnegie Mellon University)
- Missouri Valley Division (Washington University in St. Louis)
- New England Division (Tufts University)
- New York Division (Hamilton College, New York University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, United States Merchant Marine Academy)
- North Atlantic Division (Bates College, Bowdoin College, Colby College)
- Sierra Pacific Division (University of California-Santa Cruz)
For fans attending the championship in person, general admission ticket prices are $10 per day and $15 for a two-day, tournament pass. Children 12 and under are free of charge. Senior citizens receive a discounted rate of $5 for a one day pass / $7 for a tournament pass.
To accommodate the vast audience of water polo fans around the globe, the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) is providing live, pay-per-view streaming of the entire tournament through its portal on Stretch Internet. Fans can access the stream by CLICKING HERE. Pricing for the stream is $10 per game and $25 for a tournament pass that covers all games.
In the history of the event, nine teams have claimed the men’s Division III Club Championship as Wesleyan (1999, 2004, 2005), Rochester Institute of Technology (2000, 2002), Trinity College (2001), Middlebury (2003), Lindenwood University (2006, 2007, 2008), Tufts (2009), UC-Santa Cruz (2010, 2013, ,2014 co-champion), Washington St. Louis (2011, 2014 co-champion, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018) and Monmouth College (2012) have taken home the title.
Villanova hosting continues a legacy of Division III water polo championships around the country as the following institutions/sites have hosted the Men’s Division III Collegiate Club Championship since 2000:
2000 – Oberlin College (Oberlin, Ohio)
2001 – Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, N.Y.)
2002 – Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.)
2003 – Bowdoin College (Brunswick, Maine)
2004 – Trinity University (Josh Davis Natatorium, San Antonio, Texas)
2005 – Rochester Institute of Technology (Webster Community Pool, Rochester, N.Y.)
2006 – Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.)
2007 – Lindenwood University (Lindbergh High School, St. Louis, Mo.)
2008 – Villanova University (Villanova, Pa.)
2009 – Bowdoin College (Brunswick, Maine)
2010 – Macalester College (St. Paul, Minn.)
2011 – Hamilton College (Clinton, N.Y.)
2012 – Middlebury College (Middlebury, Vt.)
2013 – Franklin & Marshall College (Lancaster, Pa.)
2014 – Bowdoin College (Brunswick, Maine)
2015 – Macalester College (St. Paul, Minn.)
2016 – Hamilton College (Clinton, N.Y.)
2017 – Middlebury College (Middlebury, Vt.)
2018 – Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.)
