Courtesy: UC San Diego Athletics
LA JOLLA, Calif. – UC San Diego has notified the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) that the Tritons’ men’s water polo program will not compete in the regular season this spring. The decision was made, in part, due to the significant resources required to properly safeguard the health and well-being of all scholar-athletes.
“Our team is monumentally disappointed that our competition schedule has been canceled,” stated Head Coach Denny Harper. “But at the same time the men’s water polo scholar athletes and the entire coaching staff understands that it’s the right thing to do at this time for not only our health and safety but also for our fellow competitors. We all look forward to better days ahead.”
In December, the Big West Conference – where most UC San Diego teams compete – canceled its fall sports. At that time, UC San Diego continued to pursue a path to allow men’s water polo to participate. However, given the limitation of resources available to successfully execute events on campus (facility operations, testing, sanitation, staffing, etc.) while reducing the number of exposure points for all involved, the decision was made to bring men’s water polo in line with other Triton fall sports programs that were unable to compete this season.
Nationally, more than half (26-of-50) of all NCAA championship-eligible men’s water polo programs have elected not to participate this year.