I don’t think these two issues are mutually exclusive. There probably are players who consider playing time when approaching recruiting and many top tier recruits have decided to attend non-Big 4 schools. But that is not necessarily the biggest consideration for a water polo recruit. Our sport is not a source of social mobility through athletics. Even those that go on to play in multiple Olympics go back to being just like the rest of us and entering the workforce when their playing careers are over. In the end, the small percentage of water polo players who compete at the Division 1 level are chasing an academic degree over anything else, unlike the revenue sports where players are seeking a career in athletics.
In my mind there are two types of water polo recruits:
“The Olympic Hopeful” Recruits
This is the recruit that comes out of high school and believes that collegiate water polo is a stepping stone to achieving the highest level of the sport. These recruits are driven by finding the most competitive school that is willing to have them to be able to showcase themselves to elevate their water polo career. I think this group is actually bigger than most people think. I’d imagine that a good majority of the recruits that go to the Big 4 and the next tier below think that it is a possibility for them, even if those viewing it from the outside would think it impossible. These players are driven to take an offer from the school that they think supports their pathway.
“Water Polo is a Vehicle” Recruits
The much more common type of recruit is the person who sees water polo as their pathway to receive scholarship money or acceptance to a high-quality academic institution that may be out of reach for them based on their academic track record. The end goal of each of these recruits is different. Maybe it is a quality high school student trying to get into a top 20 academic institution in the country with a path to less resistance. Maybe it is a student who under normal academic circumstances may struggle for admission to any 4-year college. But in the end, they see water polo as their pathway.
As a website, we generally view college water polo from a competitive perspective. The process is about strengthening the sport in our country and, perhaps eventually, our nation’s position on the world stage. However, for most people playing water polo or trying to be recruited in it, they fall into one of the categories above. If I was a top 20 water polo recruit in the country, but not someone who will get the maybe 1 or 2 spots on an Olympic roster from my recruiting class, of course I am going to push to use water polo to get to a Big 4 school (as they are all high quality academic institutions) or an Ivy League school. Even if it means that I may have been one of the best high school players in the country in my class and I never see the pool in meaningful action for the MPSF schools (the UCLA roster is a who’s who of players I thought were absolute studs in high school that record single digit games played year over year). Could I go to Long Beach or Pacific and play? Sure. Is it worth the step down in the strength of my degree in comparison to the higher ranked academic institutions? That is the question that they have to weigh for themselves.
The international players pool increases the strain on both groups. There is no question. The American recruitment pool is shrinking. But no competitive college coach will ever consider an option that is less aspirational for the benefit of the water polo community as a whole. It is not in Kirk Everist or Adam Wright’s job description to grow the game of water polo. It is to field the best team to win national championships. As pessimistic of a view point as that is for me to have, it is one I think is much more grounded in the reality of the current college landscape.
The sport of water polo is in a very unique situation due to the fact that the “Big 4” schools not only perennially field the top water polo teams, but they are elite academic schools as well. With admission rates approximately in the 5 to 10% range, not many of these kids would be admitted to their respective schools if it had not been for water polo.
Seems to me that most everybody is simply reacting to the circumstances of the times, rather than anticipating the outcomes of the future. No new news here on roster limitations, deficit budgets, program elimination, athletes-as-employees, international infiltrators, and diminished recruiting opportunities for freshmen… facts are: the good old days are simply no longer possible.
Perhaps a simple solution is staring us right in the face … to almost all these problems?Perhaps the problem is that we so desperately want to hold onto the broken and dysfunctional NCAA as the only bona fide route to a national championship… and consequently suffer from bias or old-think?
The future model for college Water Polo is probably close to resembling the current Cal Berkeley rugby team… an affiliated part of the athletic department (with some of the admissions and services perks) but basically plays club rugby. In fact, National Collegiate Rugby, along with US Rugby Foundation sponsors the national collegiate championship (not the NCAA)… and teams KILL for the opportunity to win this championship.
Imagine a world where the number of collegiate Water Polo teams jumped nationally from ~ 40 participating to over ~150, where international athletes are free to roam and congregate, where rosters are not artificially limited by decree, where kids go to the school that best fits their person, rather than their ego, and where we truly become a national sport… with college teams (and coaches and sponsors) in almost every state. Did I mention we now sport a 24-team ‘National Collegiate Water Polo Championship’ tournament?
If I were a business leader and faced with all the negative trend lines in the NCAA model, AND, I was able to achieve the potential for 3x growth if I simply changed ‘who’ actually sponsors the national championship, then I’d be putting together a task force to take pro-active control of our destiney, not continue to lament about all the problems we face. Hello USA Water Polo leadership???
You just described DIV III water polo and USAWP starting a DIII National Championship back in 2019. Growing DIV III is/was John Abdou’s dream and the way for the sport to survive was to grow DIV III like USA Volleyball has in the last 15 years. You’re already seeing many more top players choosing that route over good D1 programs.
The rugby example is actually quite interesting. Exploring a better future model would be time well spent. The transition could be bumpy, but if worthwhile it would be necessary if it results in a better future.
BarDown’s post gives us an idea of what USA Water Polo might have looked like if the Board of Directors had selected former Cal water polo player Rob Solomon to be the CEO.
Rugby is Cal’s most successful varsity sport, with 33 national championships, about 160 All-Americans, and 11 Olympians. Although rugby isn’t an official NCAA sport and Cal’s rugby program doesn’t offer athletic scholarships, Cal supports rugby student-athletes through the admissions process and the rugby program uses some of the University’s facilities and services.
As BarDown suggests, if we want to see collegiate water polo grow, we should be looking at the rugby model.
I see Internationals at USC being 20-25% of the roster for a decade. What’s the recent change we are supposed to be worried about? When the roster dropped from 33-35 in 2015- 2023, internationals dropped from 8 to 5. By far the bigger changes affecting opportunity are smaller roster sizes–discussed a lot here–and recruiting via the transfer portal rather than from high school. That will favor older and more experienced “recruits”, regardless of whether they are US or foreign nationals.
Keep foreign players out of college water polo. Thats more spots for USA kids easy math. Just like they do in Europe to foreign players. All the other crap does not need to happen. 2 per game can cap up just like Europe. They learned it a long time ago and even made the citizenship rules harder 2 years s ago to protect it from invasion.
It’s not a good comparison between professional leagues and colleges. The NCAA would never add that rule and I’m not even sure they could if they wanted to. And I doubt they want to
Yes, if they miss the spring transfer window of May 15 for water polo, kids will be stuck! It sounds like they will have to budge for her to approve it. If she does not, NCAA may go under. I feel like if they came back and said 29 this year, 26 next, and 24 in 2027(for water polo), most good kids would not have to be cut. Most rosters would end up with 25-28 this year, 25-26 next year and 24 the following year. Most schools have done this ahead of time but would allow them 2 more years of using red shirts while still reducing the Cal player hording of 32 rostered players. The gradual reduction will allow for the kids that get cut due to hording who would have been top players and most mid-level schools to find a new home without causing too much of a whiplash. The cost of having a few more kids on a roster cant be very high when they are paying tuition…
Thanks for posting this interview. FWIW I actually agree with his thoughts on an overall age limit. I think it would help the sport.
I only have two issues
His facts are off wrt Fordham. Graduating seniors on last years team were all true freshman. Same for Toth and Provenzani.
Lastly, I don’t think it helps Louis’ cause by playing the victim so much. It’s a terrible message to give to his team. He actually has a great opportunity to stockpile and develop talent. Navy will only get better over time