The two-point shot, which was unique to the men's collegiate water polo game, will be eliminated for the 2000 season.

After surveying coaches about the rule, the NCAA Men's Water Polo Committee voted to eliminate the two-point shot during its April 27 teleconference.

"The committee studied this issue extensively and made the decision to eliminate the two-point shot in an effort to bring more consistency to the game," said Kaia Hedlund, committee chair and assistant director of athletics at the University of Hawaii, Manoa. "Many players go from high school to college and back to their club teams and use different sets of rules in each game. The elite-level players have the opportunity to play internationally, and we feel that we should do everything we can to assist in their development.

"Many coaches and referees work with the men's and the women's game, and many of the fans follow both genders. The two-point shot was a good road for a while but when no other governing bodies followed our lead, we needed to get back in line."

During the survey process, many coaches noted that the double value of the shot taken outside of the seven-meter mark had too much impact on the outcome of the game. Some had proposed that the committee consider a new scoring format similar to basketball that incorporated two- and three-point shots.

The committee opted not to adopt a new scoring system but chose instead to align the men's collegiate game with international rules, especially since an NCAA women's water polo championship will be established in 2001 that will use the same scoring format.

The two-point shot had been adopted in 1997. The committee believed at the time that international water polo would soon be adopting this rule, but that has not happened.

"The committee has worked very hard to bring the college rules in line with the international rules," Hedlund said. "We are at the point where there are not many significant differences in the college game and the national/international rules. This can only help the players develop at the international level.

"The U.S. women's team qualified last week for the 2000 Olympic Games. Many of the women on this team had an opportunity to play at the college level, and the fact that they played the same game over the years had to have helped them to this level."

In another action during the committee's conference call, the group recommended Pepperdine University as host for the 2000 National Collegiate Men's Water Polo Championship to be played December 2-3.