Water Polo

INTRO

Collegiate Water Polo is managed by few organizations all falling under the The Collegiate Water Polo Association which is a conference of four-year colleges and universities in the Eastern United States that sponsor 88 men's teams and 116 women's teams that compete in varsity water polo.[1] 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 also club team competition in 17 men's divisions and 13 women's divisions across the United States.

Collegiate Water polo is one of the fastest growing collegiate sports. The NCAA saw a 12% increase in international water polo student-athletes between 2011 and 2016 at the Division I level, making for the largest growth that the NCAA has seen in any Division I level men’s sport. College coaches are heavy relying on the international recruiting. Although funding for college water polo programs has not yet caught up with the sport’s growth, there are opportunities to be explored.

College water polo programs have a small scholarship budget with the NCAA allowing just 4.5 full-ride equivalent scholarships per team each year at the Division I and Division II levels in fully funded programs.

Coaches may contact recruits on or after June 15 after Sophomore year.

FACTS:

Total Varsity programs – 122
Mens Varsity Programs – 88               1741 athletes   4.5 scholarships per team
Womens Varsity Programs – 116       1961 athletes   8 scholarships per team

Total Club Programs – 156
Only non-athletic scholarships and financial aid available.

HOW TO BE RECRUITED

1. Start the process early (as early as sophomore in high school)

2. Create Amerlink Profile.

Completing a free Amerlink profile is a good starting point to become visible to college coaches. It will help You to professionally highlight the most important elements of Your athletic and academic achievements.  In the profile, showing progression of Your results is a good way to catch coaches attention, especially if the trajectory of Your progress is significant. Within the Profile, write Introduction Letter to make Your contact with the prospective coach more personal.

3. Create a highlight film and add to Your profile. Skills and game video are analyzed.

Set up camera or ipad at mid-pool at a wide angle that shows player's vision, movement with and without the ball, knowledge of position and passing with teammates. The camera should follow player to demonstrate their technical ability appropriate for the position they are playing (goalies, utility players, center forwards, center backs and drivers).

Goalies should demonstrate:

• strong core
• leg strength
• quick reflexes
• coverage of the entire cage with quick lateral movements,
• anticipation of a shot,
• tracking of the ball
• exploding out of the water to stop the shot.
• strong leadership of the defense and
• calling out gaps in the defense to prevent offensive breakaways.
• strong passing to the offense after making a stop

Utility players should demonstrate:

• versatility - comfortable playing offense and defense on both ends of the pool
• quick switching from defense to offense when they gain possession of the ball to create scoring opportunities.
• awareness of their surroundings and a high water polo IQ,
• finding open teammates to create scoring opportunities.
• driving the ball and shooting at a range of angles

Center forwards should demonstrate:

• great physical strength
• endurance
• vision of the situation in the pool
• swimming ability and physical presence in play
• ability to lead the offense,
• ability to communicate clearly with teammates and execute strategic plays
• ability to gain position over defenders
• maintain possession of the ball
• absorb fouls and shoot to score at several angles.

Center backs should demonstrate:

• wide wingspan
• swimming skills and good movement from one side of the pool to the other throughout the entire game
• endurance
• defending center forwards in zone and man-to-man defense from both in front and behind and successfully stealing the ball

Drivers should demonstrate:

• quickness
• alertness
• persistence
• starting explosiveness
• ability to quickly change direction
• ability to get free of defenders,
• gaining possession of the ball with good hand skills
• driving to the goal to score at all angles
• ability to lead the offense through good communication

Upload well edited video into Amerlink Profile. If You feel uncomfortable with editing and posting professional video, refer to Amerlink professional video editing service.

• Keep the quality of filming with stable production that will allow the coach to analyze the movements
• Keep the video concise (no longer than 5-10 min) but remember that You will make impression in first 90 seconds. Consider the first 90 seconds as if You had to convince the coach using a movie trailer.
• Put a title card at the front of your highlight video that includes your name and graduation year.
• Introduce Yourself at the onset of the video. You are making a first impression. Remember saying: “You have only one chance to make a first impression”, but in Your college video You can practice and repeat until You get it right. .
• Show strengths to attract coaches’ attention.
• Go over different aspects of your performance to give good 360 degree view of Your skills
• Show real game or competition and not just “staged modelling”
• Present yourself well - “dress to impress”

4. High-quality references from federation, coaches, club managers, well known athletes, can be very effective in your recruiting process. Coaches like to see that You were recognized for Your sport and personal qualities by other respectable individuals and organizations. For the recruiting coach, it takes the guess work out of the equation.

5. Take advantage of Amerlink Marketing, Amerlink Concierge Service, Amerlink Research, to speed up the process and assure the positive outcome.

If You go with Amerlink DIY process:

6. Research and build a target list. Check rosters of schools and compare Your skills and competitive level to gauge if the school team is compatible with Your skill level. Create a list of dream schools (but realistic), good fit schools and safety schools. Take advantage of Amerlink Research service to identify schools that are the best athletic and academic fit.

7. Research and build a target list based on the academic interest and academic level.

8. Compete at the highest level possible – inform coaches from Your selected group of schools on the competitions that you are participating in and the results.

9. Participate in Showcases and Exposure camps in USA. Plan to travel to USA (preferably in Your junior year) with Amerlink Trips

https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/swimming-worlds-annual-water-polo-camp-guide-2019-version/

East Coast

• Brown Water Polo Camps
• Princeton Water Polo Camps
• East Coast Water Polo Clinic
• 5Meter Water Polo Camp Miami
• Florida International Water Polo Camp
• 2019 Navy Summer Water Polo Camps

Midwest

• Chicago Water Polo Showcase

West Coast

• Tony Azevedo Water Polo Academy
• Cal Water Polo Camps
• Malibu Water Polo Camp
• Nike 5Meter Water Polo Camps at San Diego State
• Nike 5Meter Water Polo Camps at UC Santa Cruz
• Pacific Water Polo Shooting & Goalie Analytics Camp
• Stanford Water Polo Camps
• UCLA Water Polo Camps
• Wolf Wigo’s Santa Barbara Water Polo Camps

10. Track Your academic progress and compare with the requirements from NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA. Excelling academically will only help in recruiting process and can likely add to Your scholarship if You will apply to equivalency program. Check section of this Tutorial on academic preparedness.

11. Organize emailing campaign. Start by sending an introductory email that includes your Amerlink online academic and athletic profile, highlight video. Take advantage of the Amerlink Marketing Campaign option. Amerlink Marketing option can facilitate this step.

12. Follow up with the coaches frequently.

If the conversation is established, make sure that the coaches are updated on Your recent results, location of Your competitions. Make sure You are organized and prompt to fulfill the requests that come from interested coaches.

WHAT ARE THE COACHES LOOKING FOR ?