Southwest Zone ‘Club Of The Year’ Award

The Southwest Zone wishes to establish a formal ‘Club of the Year’ award. This award is focused on contributions made to the expansion of water polo within the Southwest Zone.  A ‘Club of the Year’ will be awarded to both an Age Group ‘Club of the Year’ and a Masters ‘Club of the Year’ and will be based on earned points from several categories accumulated over a calendar year.

Club of the Year points can be accumulated in four areas:
(1) Participation in USAWP National Level events;
(2) Sponsoring of new referees;
(3) Sponsoring of new water polo clubs;
(4) Membership growth (Future Definition).

General Operation Rules

The spirit behind the ‘Club of the Year’ is to benefit all water polo players within the zone.  This goal will be applied in any required evaluation by the Southwest Zone Board for situations not covered by these rules explicitly.

Declaration of points earned should be sent by email to:  ralbach@usawaterpolo.org

For national event participation, all claims for points must be declared within one week after the event’s conclusion and must include the team’s official USAWP verified roster.

For sponsorship of new referees or clubs, all claims for points must be declared at the time the sponsorship initiates and then points may be awarded at the end of the year if the sponsored entity fulfills the requirements of these rules. The last date for which claims can be declared will be 15 November of the current year.  All declarations are associated within a calendar year unless relevant to exceptions explicitly mentioned.

All scoring disputes regarding the proper award of points will follow the same process as currently defined for Connor Cup scoring.

USAWP National Level Event Participation

Events that will generate participation points are:

Age Group Events: Rocktober, Junior Olympics and Champions Cup.  Five (5) points will be awarded for each team from a club that enters in any qualified Age Group event, but with a maximum of ten (10) points per club per event.  Age and gender divisions within an event are not considered different events for earning participation points. Points awarded in this category will be applied only to the Age Group ‘Club of the Year’ scoring.

Masters Events: Masters Nationals.  Five (5) points will be awarded for each team from a club that enters in any qualified Masters event, but with a maximum of ten (10) points per club per event.   Age and gender divisions within an event are not considered different events for earning participation points. Points awarded in this category will be applied only to the Masters ‘Club of the Year’ scoring.

For participation points in USA Water Polo National Level events, the majority of the team’s official entry roster must be comprised of Southwest Zone members.  If the roster contains Southwest Zone members from more than one Southwest Zone club, then participation points are distributed according to the following formula:

-One (1) point for the participating club

-All remaining points distributed by percentage to the respective clubs represented by players on the team’s official roster.  Any fraction resulting from this calculation will be truncated.

Example 1: Club A is entering a team in the Masters Nationals event.  Of the 10 members, 5 are from Club A; 3 are from Club B; and 2 are from Club C.  Club A gets one (1) point for acting as the entering entity. The remaining points are then distributed according to the roster percentages as follows:

2 points for Club A (50% of 4 remaining points = 2); 1 point for Club B (30% of 4 remaining points = 1.2); 0 points for Club C (20% of 4 remaining points = 0.8). The final point in this example is not allocated and the net point count for the clubs with participants is 4.

Sponsoring of New Referees

The Southwest Zone wishes to encourage the growth of certified referees and will award existing clubs that sponsor new referees.  Referee sponsorship is defined as any activity driven by a club that results in new referees completing the tasks defined below and will result in the award of three (3) points for each new referee.  Referees for both USAWP and TISCA High School will be accepted.  If a club sponsors a new refereeand wishes to receive points for that sponsorship, then both the club and the referee  must declare the sponsorship.  The sponsoring club must also determine whether they want their points applied to ‘Club of the Year’ scoring for either the Age Group or Masters category and this must be decided at the time of the sponsorship declaration and cannot be changed.

Referee sponsorship points will be awarded when the referee has completed all required accreditation to become certified AND works a minimum of 10 officially sanctioned games within the Southwest Zone. Sponsorship is only applicable to individuals whose USAWP referee membership started the year of the sponsorship declaration and had not been a referee for the prior two calendar years.

Example 2: Club D has recruited 2 new referees (X and Y), neither of which has been a referee during the previous two years. Referee X becomes certified and works 10 officially sanctioned games that same calendar year.   Referee Y becomes certified but does not finish their 10 officially sanctioned games until January of the next year. Club D receives 3 points for referee X, however club D won’t receive their points for Referee Y until the following year. <Note that the Referee Y example is one where the calendar year is NOT a disqualifying factor for points>

Example 3: Club A declares the sponsorship of 3 new referees and decides that they want points for referee 1 to be applied to the Masters category and referees 2 and 3 to be applied to the Age Group category.  If all 3 new referees become certified and work 10 games, then Club A will be awarded 3 points in the Masters category and 6 points in the Age Group category.

Sponsoring of New Water Polo Clubs

The Southwest Zone wishes to expand the number of clubs in the zone. These may be either a USAWP club, a High School program, or a CWPA program and will award existing clubs that sponsor new water polo clubs  Club sponsorship is defined as any activity driven by a club that results in the creation of a new USAWP club, a new high school program or a new CWPA program that completes the tasks defined below and will result in the award of ten (10) points for each new USAWP club, five (5) points for each new high school program and three (3) points for each new CWPA club.

Club sponsorship points will be awarded when either the new high school or CWPA program competes and fully participates in a full season or the new USAWP club wholly competes as an independent entity in either 2 local leagues or 3 Connor Cup designated events within a calendar year.  Points will be awarded in the year in which the season or eligible events are completed. The new club or program must not have existed in any form in the previous 2 calendar years. If a club sponsors a new club/program and wishes to receive points for that sponsorship, then both the sponsoring club and the new club/programmust declare the sponsorship.  The sponsoring club must also determine whether they want their points applied to ‘Club of the Year’ scoring for either the Age Group or Masters category and this must be decided at the time of the sponsorship declaration and cannot be changed.

Example 4: Club B declares the sponsorship of a new USAWP club and a new high school program and decides that they want points for the USAWP club to be applied to the Masters category and the high school program to be applied to the Age Group category.  If both new clubs/programs complete the minimum competition requirements defined above, then Club B will be awarded 10 points in the Masters category and 5 points in the Age Group category.