The Collegiate Water Polo Association is a
conference of
colleges and
universities
A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
in the
Eastern United States that sponsor 19 men's teams and 17 women's teams that compete in
varsity water polo
Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...
. The winners of the conference tournaments earn one of the four spots in the
NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship and one of the eight spots in the
NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship. The CWPA sponsors club team competition in 17 men's divisions and 13 women's divisions across the United States.
History
The
conference was founded in the early 1970s as the Mid Atlantic Conference by Dick Russell, the swimming and water polo coach at Bucknell University with member schools from New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland. The first conference championship was held in 1972, with Yale defeating Harvard.
The organization was run by the conference's coaches until a commissioner was hired in 1990. In 1993, the Mid Atlantic Conference admitted the full memberships of the New England and Southern Conferences, changing its name to the Mid Atlantic Conference with 39 varsity and club member schools. The following year, the conference went co-ed, raising the number of member teams to 55. As the organization expanded into the Midwest in 1995, the referees from the Eastern Water Polo Referees Association opted to go on strike, so the conference established its own refereeing bureau. With 95 teams from the
Northeast,
Midwest, and
South, the conference took its present name in 1996.
The CWPA continued expanding, entering the
Northwest in 1998, the
Great Plains
The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...
and California in 1999, and now has membership in 43 of the
contiguous 48 States.
CWPA staff
*Commissioner- Dan Sharadin
*Director of Communications- Ed Haas
*Membership Services- Calianne Timothy
*Director of Multimedia- TBA
*Director of Officials- Ed Reed
Varsity teams competing in the CWPA
Men's teams
;Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference
*
Bucknell
*
Fordham
*
George Washington
George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
*
Johns Hopkins
*
Mercyhurst
*
Mount St. Mary's
*
Navy
*
Wagner
;Northeast Water Polo Conference
*
Brown
*
Connecticut College
*
Harvard
*
Iona
*
LIU
*
MIT
*
Princeton
Women's teams
;Division I
*
Brown University
*
Bucknell University
*
George Washington University
*
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
*
Mercyhurst University
*
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
*
Princeton University
*
Saint Francis University (PA)
;Division III
*
Augustana College
*
Austin College
*
Carthage College
*
Connecticut College
*
Grove City College
*
Macalester College
*
Penn State Behrend
*
Saint Francis University (PA) - Starting in 2027
*
Washington & Jefferson College
Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania, United States. The college traces its origin to three Presbyterian m ...
Club teams competing in the CWPA
Men's teams
Atlantic Division
*
Georgetown
*
James Madison
*
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
*
Navy
*
North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
*
NC State
*
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
*
Virginia Tech
*
Wake Forest
Big Ten Division
*
Illinois
*
Indiana
Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
*
Iowa
Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
*
Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
*
Michigan State
*
Northwestern
*
Ohio State
*
Purdue
*
Wisconsin
Colonial Division
*
Amherst
*
Coast Guard
*
UMass
*
Middlebury
*
Wesleyan
*
Williams
*
WPI
Florida Division
*
UCF "A"
*UCF "B"
*
Florida "A"
*Florida "B"
*
Florida Atlantic
*
Florida Gulf Coast
*
Florida State
*
Miami (Fla.)
Great Lakes Division
*
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
*
Davenport
*
Dayton
*
Grand Valley State
*
Miami (Ohio)
*
Notre Dame
*
Xavier
Heartland Division
*
Augustana (IL)
*
Carleton
*
Grinnell
*
Knox
*
Macalester
*
Saint John's (MN)
*
St. Mary's (MN)
*
St. Olaf
Mid Atlantic Division A
*
Carnegie Mellon
*
Drexel
*
Penn
*
Penn State "A"
*Penn State "B"
*
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
*
Villanova
Mid Atlantic Division B
*
Albright
*
Bloomsburg
*
Bucknell
*
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...
*
Lehigh
*
Rutgers
*
Saint Joseph's
*
West Chester
Missouri Valley Division
*
Lindenwood "A"
*Lindenwood "B"
*
McKendree
*
Missouri
Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
*
Missouri S&T
*
Saint Louis
*
Washington University in St. Louis
New England Division
*
Boston College
*
Boston University
*
UConn
*
Dartmouth
*
Northeastern
*
Tufts
*
Yale
New York Division Eastern Region
*
Columbia
*
NYU
*
RPI
*
Coast Guard
*
Merchant Marine
*
Army
An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...
New York Division Western Region
*
Binghamton
*
Buffalo
*
Cornell "A"
*Cornell "B"
*
Hamilton
*
Syracuse
North Atlantic Division
*
Bates
*
Bowdoin
*
Colby
*
Vermont
Northwest Division
*
Boise State
*
Central Washington
*
Oregon
Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
*
Oregon State
*
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
*
Washington
*
Western Washington
Pacific Coast Division
*
Cal Poly "A"
*Cal Poly "B"
*
UCLA "A"
*UCLA "B"
*
Long Beach State
*
UC Santa Barbara
*
USC USC may refer to:
Education
United States
* Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico
* University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina
** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina
* ...
Rocky Mountain Division
*
Colorado "A"
*Colorado "B"
*
Colorado Mesa
*
Colorado School of Mines
*
Colorado State
*
Denver
Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
*
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
*
Utah "A"
*Utah "B"
*
Utah State
*
Wyoming
Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...
Sierra Pacific Division
*
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
*
UC Davis "A"
*UC Davis "B"
*
UC Merced
*
UC Santa Cruz
*
Cal State Chico
*
California Maritime
*
Cal State Monterey
*
San Jose State
*
Stanford
Southeast Division
*
Alabama
*
Auburn
*
Clemson
*
Georgia
*
Georgia Southern
*
Georgia Tech
*
Kennesaw State
*
Tennessee
*
Vanderbilt
Southwest Division
*
Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
*
Arizona State
*
UC Irvine
*
UC San Diego "A"
*UC San Diego "B"
*
Cal State Northridge
*
San Diego
San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
*
San Diego State
Texas Division
*
Baylor
*
Houston
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
*
LSU
*
Rice
Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...
*
Texas A&M "A"
*Texas A&M "B"
*
Texas State
*
Texas Tech
*
Texas "A"
*Texas "B"
*
SMU
Men's Division III Collegiate Club Champions
*1999
Wesleyan University
*2000 RIT
*2001 Trinity University
*2002 RIT
*2003
Middlebury College
*2004 Wesleyan University
*2005 Wesleyan University
*2006
Lindenwood University
*2007 Lindenwood University
*2008 Lindenwood University
*2009
Tufts University
*2010
UC-Santa Cruz
*2011
Washington University in St. Louis
*2012
Monmouth College
*2013
UC-Santa Cruz
*2014 UC-Santa Cruz/Washington University in St. Louis (Co-Champions)
*2015 Washington University in St. Louis
*2016 Washington University in St. Louis
*2017 Washington University in St. Louis
*2018 Washington University in St. Louis
*2019 Washington University in St. Louis
*2020 Cancelled due to
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
*2021 Cancelled
Men's National Collegiate Club Champions
*1993 Northwestern University
*1994 United States Military Academy
*1995 University of Dayton
*1996 University of Michigan
*1997 Dartmouth College
*1998 University of Michigan
*1999 Cal Poly State University
*2000 Michigan State University
*2001 Cal Poly State University
*2002 Cal Poly State University
*2003 University of Michigan
*2004 Cal Poly State University
*2005 Grand Valley State University
*2006 Michigan State University
*2007 Cal Poly State University
*2008 Michigan State University
*2009 UCLA
*2010 UCLA
*2011 USC
*2012 USC
*2013 UCLA
*2014 Lindenwood University
*2015 Lindenwood University
*2016 Lindenwood University
*2017 San Diego State University
*2018 Lindenwood University
*2019 Lindenwood University
*2020 Canceled due to
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
*2021 Michigan State University
*2022 UC San Diego
Women's teams
Atlantic Division
*
Duke
*
Georgetown
*
James Madison
*
North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
*
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
*
Virginia Tech
Big Ten Division
*
Illinois
*
Iowa
Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
*
Michigan "A"
*Michigan "B"
*
Michigan State
*
Ohio State
*
Purdue
*
Wisconsin
Heartland Division
*
Augustana
*
Carleton
*
Grinnell
*
Knox
*
St. Mary's (MN)
*
St. Olaf
Mid Atlantic Division
*
Carnegie Mellon
*
Penn
*
Penn State Blue
*Penn State White
*
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
*
West Chester
Midwest Division
*
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
*
Grand Valley State "A"
*Grand Valley State "B"
*
Illinois State
*
Lindenwood
*
Miami (Ohio)
*
Notre Dame
*
Ohio
Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
*
Saint Louis
*
Washington (St. Louis)
New England Division
*
Boston College
*
Boston University
*
Dartmouth
*
UMass
*
Northeastern
*
Wesleyan
*
Williams
New York Division
*
Colgate
*
Columbia
*
Cornell
*
Hamilton
*
Hartwick
*
NYU
*
Syracuse
North Atlantic Division
*
Bates
*
Bowdoin
*
Coast Guard "A"
*Coast Guard "B"
*
MIT
*
Middlebury
*
Tufts
*
Wellesley
*
Yale
Northwest Division
*
Oregon "A"
*Oregon "B"
*
Oregon State
*
Portland State
*
Washington
*
Western Washington
Pacific Coast Division
*
Cal Poly "A"
*Cal Poly "B"
*
Long Beach State
*
UCLA "A"
*UCLA "B"
*
UC Riverside
*
UC Santa Barbara "A"
*UC Santa Barbara "B"
*
USC USC may refer to:
Education
United States
* Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico
* University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina
** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina
* ...
Rocky Mountain Division
*
Air Force
*
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
*
Colorado School of Mines
*
Colorado State
*
Denver
Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
*
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
Sierra Pacific Division
*
California "A"
*California "B"
*
UC Davis "A"
*UC Davis "B"
*
California Maritime
*
Cal State Chico
*
Fresno State
*
Saint Mary's (CA)
*
San Jose State
*
UC Santa Cruz "A"
*UC Santa Cruz "B"
Southeast Division
*
UCF
*
Emory
*
Florida "A"
*Florida "B"
*
FAU
*
Florida State
*
Georgia Tech
Southwest Division
*
Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
*
Arizona State
*
UC Irvine
*
UC San Diego "A"
*UC San Diego "B"
*
San Diego
San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
*
San Diego State "A"
*San Diego State "B"
Texas Division
*
Baylor
*
Rice
Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...
*
Texas
*
Texas A&M "A"
*Texas A&M "B"
*
Texas State
Women's Division III Collegiate Club Champions
*2019 Middlebury College
*2020 Cancelled due to
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
*2021 Competition not held
Women's National Collegiate Club Champions
*2000 University of Washington
*2001 Michigan State University
*2002 Michigan State University
*2003 California Polytechnic State University
*2004 California Polytechnic State University
*2005 California Polytechnic State University
*2006 Michigan State University
*2007 Fresno State University
*2008 California Polytechnic State University
*2009 California Polytechnic State University
*2010 California Polytechnic State University
*2011 California Polytechnic State University
*2012 University of California-Davis
*2013 University of California-Davis
*2014 San Diego State University
*2015 University of California
*2016 University of California-Santa Barbara
*2017 University of California-Davis
*2018 University of California-Davis
*2019 University of Florida
*2020 Cancelled due to
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
*2021 Competition not held
See also
*
USA Water Polo Hall of Fame
References
{{Reflist
External links
Official Website of the CWPA
NCAA Division I conferences
College water polo in the United States
Sports leagues established in 1972
1972 establishments in the United States