The Men's Water Polo Committee has compiled a document detailing the "state of the game" that it will forward to the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet for review at the cabinet's June meeting.

"The committee has discussed how to help the game maintain current sponsorship numbers, and now we are turning to the cabinet to get some helpful feedback," said water polo committee Chair Al Beaird, commissioner of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

The committee, which held its annual meeting February 10-12 in Key West, Florida, wants to use that feedback to develop a five-year strategic plan and accompanying budget requests before the cabinet's budget meeting in September.

"We really feel like we are the guardians of the sport, and we need to plan to make sure we don't continue to lose teams," Beaird said.

The committee also worked out some officiating issues, including a decision to wait until after conference championships in future years to notify officials selected to work the NCAA championship. The committee will send letters in advance to officials under consideration, and the committee will use conference championships performance to help determine the final crew. Conferences still will have input on the officials to be considered.

The group also voted to work with the NCAA Women's Water Polo Committee to jointly request funds for a national referee improvement program.

"We would like to create a link among the rules, the referees, the committee and the selection of the referees that doesn't exist now," Beaird said. "We think increased communication could help encourage new officials and better train the officials we already use. We believe it could be a win-win effort for both men's and women's water polo."

The women's committee will consider the proposal in July.

Rules changes

The Men's and Women's Water Polo Committees conducted a joint meeting by conference call February 11 to discuss potential rules changes. Both groups agreed to remove the stalling rule for the 2003-04 season. There no longer will be an obligation for a team to advance the ball. However, the referee will award an ordinary foul in situations when the ball is dumped into an unoccupied area near the end of the 35-second period of possession. That will allow the other team to establish possession or call a timeout without losing more time on the game clock.

The committees also discussed red cards and game suspensions, determining that players who receive a red card now will be allowed to sit in the stands during that game, but will not be allowed to communicate with the team. Any further disruption of the game or contact with the team could result in a forfeit.

"Sporting conduct is especially important for the committee to uphold," said Kaia Hedlund, chair of the women's committee and director of special events at the Big West Conference. "With that said, we need to be aware that a player removed from the pool facility because of a red card could be in a situation outside of the pool area with nowhere to go and without any supervision by the coach. This gives the coaching staff an opportunity to maintain control and yet punish the player."

The red-card game suspension must be served in a game already on the team's schedule before the suspension. This prevents teams from adding a contest to avoid player suspension during important games. The suspension also must be served against four-year institutions recognized as NCAA or NAIA members.

Other highlights

In addition to the rules changes described in the accompanying article, the NCAA Men's and Women's Water Polo Committees made the following rules adjustments:

Specified that a referee, after ordering a player from the water for disrespect or misconduct, may issue a red card should a player refuse to leave the water.

Clarified a ruling for situations when a team playing defense is down by a goal and commits an intentional act (a goalkeeper deliberately pulling over the goal, an eighth player jumping into the water from the bench during play, etc.) during the last minute of the game or during the last minute of the second overtime in order to regain possession. The team with the lead will be awarded a penalty shot then be awarded possession at the half distance line regardless of whether the penalty shot is made or missed.

Determined that a goal may be scored if, after the award of a foul outside seven meters and the ball is inside seven meters or closer to the defending team's goal, the ball is returned without delay to either the place where the foul was committed or to any place on the same line as the foul or behind. The shot from that position must be taken immediately.

Agreed that coaches will be allowed to address referees during breaks between periods and timeouts. Previously, only the captain was allowed to speak to the referees at these times. The head coach and captain may discuss rule clarifications and misapplications of rules with the officials at these times but may not address the referee during actual play.

Agreed that referees should be at the pool 30 minutes before game time to ensure proper pregame preparation. The referees' jurisdiction extends for five minutes after the game or until any protest procedure has been completed.

Starting in 2006-07, floating goals must be made of limp nets. Canvas no longer will be allowed.