2018 UCLA Women's Club Water Polo

After receiving an incredible amount of support, we have decided to boost our goal to $8500! The extra thousand dollars will be crucial in the event that we make it to the National Tournament, which will involve additional travel and boarding cost. We are challenging our alumni to help us reach this additional goal! If just 50 alumni donated $25, we will be well on our way to funding our journey to Nationals! 

Meet the Team

UCLA Women’s Club Water Polo is a student run and student funded organization affiliated with UCLA Recreation Club Sports. This year we have 27 active members led by our dedicated coach MacGregor Sanford. We compete against five other university teams in the Pacific Coast Division of the Collegiate Water Polo Association and aim to land the top seed in our division at the championship tournament. This year, our schedule is composed of one pre-season tournament in San Diego, two regular season tournaments, and the championship tournament, which will be held at UCLA. Making it to the national tournament in Oregon continues to be our motivating factor in practice, and we have been training since September in preparation. Aside from water polo, our team is proud of our high levels of academic achievement and is committed to community outreach. In the past, our team has participated in events such as food drives, 5k race charity fundraisers, school beautification projects, and blood drives. Not only does this program provide excellent water polo development and experience, it promotes a sense of community around the sport where our members have made life-long friends and lasting memories.

Our Needs

Thanks to the outpour of support from our donors, our financial situation has improved tremendously from last year. However, our tournament and travel fees continue to be an issue. As a large and highly competitive team, we have the opportunity to travel across the state and potentially to Oregon. The associated costs have gone up exponentially due to the increase in our numbers, and we do not want this to diminish our chances of making it to the national tournament. One of our main priorities is to provide all players with the opportunity to travel, while covering all expenses for Coach Mac.

How You Can Help

 Our goal this season is to raise $7500 to help buffer the costs of tournaments, travel, and equipment. As a club sport, our team must find ways to raise our own money to fund these items since the school does not allocate any money towards our program. Our players are constantly struggling to keep the team afloat, but still want to continue playing for the love of the sport and the team. Our donors play a huge role in the success of our team, helping fund tournaments and alleviating the stress that comes with a student run and funded team, and we are extremely grateful for them. Your donation helps not only this season's team, but the future teams to come. We greatly appreciate any amount that you can give, and we would love you to come support us at our games!

Our Story 

The 2017-2018 school year has already proved to be a landmark year in the history of  UCLA Women’s Club Water Polo. In the wake of turbulent past seasons, our team has emerged stronger than ever. After a disappointing loss last spring to CSU Long Beach in the semi-final game of the championship tournament, we have regrouped and are prepared to dominate. Thanks to the graciousness of our donors and our commitment to rebuilding the program, we successfully entered a second team that will represent UCLA in our division. This decision is a reflection of our commitment to making sure every player will have plenty of playing time and has the opportunity to develop and improve in the sport. Both teams will be led by Coach Mac and will both have equal opportunities to make it to the national tournament. We continue to be a very tight-knit team, often spending time each week outside the pool having study parties and socializing with other club sport teams.