The NCAA Women's Water Polo Committee has formulated a proposal for an eight-team tournament played to eight places. The committee, which met July 14-16 in Indianapolis, developed the proposal in response to a Championships/Competition Cabinet request for a recommendation on bracket expansion.

"It is a water polo tradition to play the tournament out to each place," said committee Chair Kaia Hedlund, director of special projects at the Big West Conference. "Before it was an NCAA championship, the tournaments were in this format because the games are short, and it gives the teams more opportunities to play."

The proposal calls for four games during each of the tournament's three days. Currently, the championship provides for four teams and two games each on Saturday and Sunday. The proposal would add four teams and an additional day.

Other expansion options included an eight-team bracket with a third-place game or just a single-elimination, eight-team tournament.

The cabinet will consider the committee's recommendation later this month. If approved, the earliest bracket expansion could occur would be the 2005 championship.

In other action, the committee joined the men's water polo committee in asking the cabinet to establish a national officiating improvement program. The proposal would create a position of national coordinator of officials to help improve the level of officiating, standardize the rules interpretations and officials' mechanics, and assist the sports committees in identifying and selecting officials for the championships.

The women's committee also discussed a change in the current championship date formula, though the group did not recommend a change at this time. The current formula conflicts with Mother's Day weekend and the California high-school championship.

"It's a tough issue because we want to avoid our current conflicts by having the championship a week later, but we risk causing other conflicts," Hedlund said. "Graduation, finals week and costing our institutions more money to keep student-athletes on campus are all issues to be considered. If you have the championship the week before, you lose a week of competition."

The committee will continue the discussion during the championship in May 2004.

In other items, the committee: