Lexie Kamerman Named CWPA Director of Membership Services

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. - Dan Sharadin, Commissioner of the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA), has announced the hiring of Lexie Kamerman as Director of Membership Services.

"We are excited to bring Lexie on board with the CWPA," noted Sharadin.  "Her skill set and personality represent a perfect match for the position.  We believe that she will be able to help us meet the needs of our coaches better than we are already managing as the growth of the league has outpaced the staff's resources.  Her enthusiasm for the sport and outgoing manner demonstrate exactly what we want to project as a staff."

In her position, Kamerman will be responsible for membership initiation and development, including the coordination of hotel room blocks and event management for the league's more than 240 members at division, regional and national championships around the country.  Further, she is the primary contact for the league's Hall of Fame ceremony holding responsibilities for assisting in site selection, event planning and management.

A four-year All-Heartland Division selection on the Knox College (Galseburg, Ill.) co-ed and women's club water polo teams in the CWPA, she earned first team All-Conference honors in 2005, 2006 and 2007 and was named an honorable mention selection on the 2007 National Collegiate Club All-America team. 

Kamerman comes to the league with past experience in collegiate event administration as she served as team captain of the Knox co-ed and women's teams during the 2007-08 academic year.  Further, she served as a member of the league's administrative staff at the 2008 CWPA Women's Eastern Champion at the University of Michigan in May assisting in merchandising and customer relations.

A 2004 graduate of the Latin School (Chicago, Ill.) and a three-time Illinois All-Conference selection (2001, 2003-04), she helped the Romans to Top 20 rankings in Illinois from 2001 through 2004.  As a senior in 2004, she earned Illinois All-State and Most Valuable Player honors in leading Latin to second in the state sectional tournament.

An active member of the Pi Beta Phi fraternity while at Knox, she served in various administrative roles including the Policy and Standards (2005, 2006) and Leadership and Nominating (2008) committees.  In 2007, she was elected Vice President of Fraternity Development for the Illinois Beta-Delta Chapter of Phi Beta Phi overseeing the history and traditions of the fraternity branch.

Active in community service in Chicago and Galesburg with Hands Without Guns (2003), St. Peter's Soup Kitchen (2003), Praireland Animal Welfare Shelter (2005-08) and Special Olympics Polar Plunge (2006-08), she also assisted in the post-Katrina clean-up in the Gulf Coast traveling to New Orleans (La.) in Spring 2006 to assist in community work and the demolition of uninhabitable houses in the wake of the hurricane.

A 2008 graduate of Knox College with dual Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology/Sociology and Environmental Studies, she received the 2007 Richter Grant for Student Research in addition to earning Creative Writing and Founders Scholarships from 2004 through 2008.  In addition, the Chicago native studied abroad at University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania during the summer and fall of 2006.  While in Tanzania, she studied human evolution, ecology, Kiswahili and conducted research on tourism.

The third largest collegiate athletic organization in the nation behind only the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), Kamerman's hiring brings the CWPA staff to three full-time and one part-time position.

Comprised of teams in 75% of the states nationwide, including both intercollegiate varsity competition and club competition, the CWPA stands as the only conference of this type.   

Encompassing 36 varsity teams and more than 200 club programs, due to its breadth and influence, the conference plays a pivotal role in the sport of water polo today providing the majority of post-secondary school water polo experiences in North America.

Founded as the Mid Atlantic Conference by Dick Russell (Bucknell University swimming & water polo coach) in the 1970's with teams from Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, the Collegiate Water Polo Association now boasts over 240 teams and strives to enrich and enhance the student-athlete experience through the assignment of officials and management of 28 club and five varsity divisions.