REPORT OF THE

NCAA WOMEN’S WATER POLO COMMITTEE

 

 

ACTION ITEMS.

 

         1.      2008 Automatic Qualification (AQ).

 

                  a.      Recommendation.  That the following conferences receive automatic qualification for the 2008 National Collegiate Women’s Water Polo Championship: Collegiate Water Polo Association, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the Western Water Polo Association.

 

          b.      Rationale.  All five eligible conferences are being recommended to receive automatic qualification.

 

         c.      Estimated Budget Impact.  None.

 

          d.      Student-Athlete Impact.  None.

 

 

2.      Officiating Improvement Program Increase.

 

a.      Recommendation.  That effective 2008-09, the budget for the officiating improvement program for water polo be increased by $5,000.

 

b.      Rationale.  Currently, the allocated figure for the program is $14,800, and this is significantly below other improvement programs in the other Division I sports.  The men’s and women’s water polo committees are putting forward the same request to help continue to enhance this program.  The officiating coordinator has been building the plans through the first two years of the program and the committees feel with a larger budget the number of in-person clinics with officials and traveling dates to see the major tournaments could be increased.  This would help enhance the overall level of this program and foster more communication and develop more consistency in officiating.  With this additional funding the officiating coordinator would not have to absorb the costs of accommodations during his in-person evaluations of officials, could dedicate more time and resources to the development of an officiating manual, and would be able to meet the estimated stipend of $10,000, as noted by the cabinet when this initiative was officially approved in September 2003.  Typically the stipend set forth in the budget is around $6,500-$7,000.

 

c.      Estimated Budget Impact.  $5,000.

 

d.      Student-Athlete Impact.  None.

 

 

3.      Increase Fee for Championship Officials.

 

a.      Recommendation.  That effective for the 2009 championship, the fees for championship officials be increased from $125 to $150 per game.

 

b.      Rationale.  Currently, officials receive $125 per game at the championship. The committee feels that the championship is the elite event in collegiate water polo and thus the officials that are qualified and selected to work this event should be compensated accordingly. Information was also gathered from sponsoring conferences that indicated their payment for regular season games ranged from $75-$115 and for conference tournament games ranged from $90-$115. Thus the committee feels it necessary for the payment for officials to work the NCAA championship to be a step higher than the compensation level at the conference level.   The men’s committee is putting forward the same request to keep the format consistent between the two events.

 

c.      Estimated Budget Impact.  This would result in a total annual budget increase of $600.

 

d.      Student-Athlete Impact.  None.

 

 

4.      Flights for Table Workers.

 

a.      Recommendation.  That effective for the 2009 championship, there be three flights available to be used for the key desk-personnel at the championship.

 

b.      Rationale.  Currently, the key desk-personnel (official scorer, exclusion secretary, exclusion board operator, game-clock operator, 35-second clock operator, timeout secretary and announcer) travel expenses are all incurred by the championship host. There are times when the championship is not conducted in the west coast which increases the difficulty in locating individuals who can work all weekend and are familiar enough with the duties to serve at a high enough level for the championship. In these situations, the committee would like to have the flexibility to pay for up to three flights for those individuals to ensure quality and experienced workers can be assigned to the championship.  

 

c.      Estimated Budget Impact.  This would result in a total annual budget increase of $1,950 (3 flights at $650 a flight)

 

d.      Student-Athlete Impact.  None.

 

 

5.      Increase Fees for Table Workers.

 

a.      Recommendation.  That effective 2007-08, the fees for key table personnel (official scorer, exclusion secretary, exclusion board operator, game clock operator, 35-second clock operator, timeout secretary and announcer) be increased from $250 for 3 days to $35 per game to be consistent with the fee paid to goal judges during the championship.


 

b.      Rationale.  Currently, these workers receive $250 for the 3-day championship (total of $1,500 – not including the announcer’s fees) and the committee would like to see the fee move to a per-game format and to the level of that of a goal judge.  The host institutions are responsible for finding and securing these individuals from the local area.  This type of arrangement often leads to multiple people with limited experience filling a position at the scorer’s table.  These positions are important to the championship to keep accurate information and statistics and to keep matches running effectively. Increasing the compensation for these individuals would help to


ensure consistency throughout the weekend and help attract qualified individuals to these positions, who are often difficult to find, especially when the championship is located away from the west coast.  The men’s committee also is requesting the same budget increase so the workers are paid consistently from championship to championship.

 

c.      Estimated Budget Impact. This would result in a total annual budget increase of $1,020.

        

d.      Student-Athlete Impact.  None.

 

 

6.      Committee Chair Extension.

 

a.      Recommendation.  That Daniel Smith, associate director of athletics and compliance coordinator at Loyola Marymount University, extend his term of chair for the 2007-08 year.

 

b.      Rationale.  Mr. Smith has served in the chair role successfully and has done an exceptional job managing this committee and championship for the past two years.  The committee has had turnover in its members over the past year, having to replace two coaches, (1 this summer, 1 in September), two administrators (one new this September and one appointed in May).  Mr. Smith is the senior member on the committee, and the other committee member who has not been appointed in the last year is a coach who will be in his second year on the committee.  The committee feels to maintain continuity and the work that has been accomplished that Mr. Smith would be the best individual to continue his term as chair for one additional year.

 

c.      Estimated Budget Impact.  None.

 

d.      Student-Athlete Impact.  None.

 

 

 

Committee Chair:  Daniel Smith, Loyola Marymount University

Staff Liaison:  Kristin M. Steckmesser, Championships