The women's water polo community has been grooming itself for NCAA championship status. On May 12, the wait will be over.

"Getting ready for this year wasn't all that different than in the past," said Kaia Hedlund, chair of the NCAA Women's Water Polo Committee and director of special projects for the Big West Conference. "We had known this was going to happen, and we had a good idea of how we wanted to set it up. We wanted to make sure that we didn't just copy what the men had been doing."

Postseason participants were required to abide by NCAA rules in order to be prepared for indoctrination into the NCAA ranks.

"The previous championships were more of a collective effort," said Barry King, committee member and head coach at Indiana University, Bloomington. "I have to say that hosting 16 teams last year was quite the job, but there was a spirit of cooperation among the coaches and teams. Under the NCAA label, you qualify and then say, 'Now, tell us what to do.' "

"Actually, it is less work this year," King concluded. "There really is a heightened legitimacy with the NCAA label. As a committee member, a lot of preparation was done when we finished up the format and qualifying procedures. It really gets turned over to the host and the NCAA. I'm sure Stanford (host of the 2001 National Collegiate championship) has done a spectacular job getting ready for the tournament."

With some financial backing from US Water Polo and teams paying their own travel expenses, the tournament structure helped increase the number of opportunities for women's water polo teams. Travel expense reimbursement and event organization are just a few of the benefits of the championship's new NCAA status.

"The NCAA name is huge," said Stanford coach John Tanner. "It means more to win an NCAA championship than a collegiate championship. All our student-athletes have grown up watching the basketball Final Fours and seeing what it means to win. So, being part of that tradition now means a lot to them."

Attention turns to growth

Exposure is expected to be the greatest benefit the NCAA can offer to women's water polo. In 1997, women's rowing became the first sport to go from emerging to championship status, and Jan Harville, the rowing coach at the University of Washington, noticed the difference right away.

"We were the first sport at Washington to win an NCAA championship," Harville recalled. "Here's the band coming out to meet us, and here are all these reporters. And we were like, 'Guys, we've done this before.' But that's what the NCAA means to the public. I think the attention helps our sport and helps our institutions."

The same reaction is just what women's water polo enthusiasts are hoping for from the May 12-13 championship at Stanford.

"I think you'll see that the exposure will be great for the sport and participation will increase because of it," Hedlund said.

An increase in the number of women's water polo teams is the desired result. The only drawback is that just four teams qualify for the championship field.

"Some people might view this as a step back as far as inclusion in the sport," King said. "I don't think that is true. I think with the number of teams being able to play into the tournament and the access that we had, there were teams that took being in the championship as a given."

This year, three teams will receive automatic qualification into the championship and one team will be selected at-large.

"There will be even more urgency during those end-of-the-season games to get that automatic bid."

National influence

Although he was hoping for more teams in the NCAA championship, King said he understands why the field size is four for 2001.

"I think the four-team bracket will not hurt the growth of the game right now," King said. "If we don't expand at some point in the future as we continue to grow, though, it will affect the growth and be a deterrent for the sport."

In an effort to capitalize on its first NCAA championship, the women's water polo committee has invited athletics directors, presidents and other dignitaries to witness the championship.

"The sport being added as an Olympic sport in Sydney was a huge step," Tanner said. "Anita DeFrantz (first vice-president of the International Olympic Committee) was a big part of that happening. We are excited about her being a part of our championship as the banquet speaker."

Along with the tournament, a symposium on women coaching water polo will focus on attracting females into the coaching ranks as the sport grows.

"It will be our weekend, and we have to make the most of it," Hedlund said. "We want people to see how great this sport is and how much enthusiasm there is for women's water polo."