The “game of the ball in the water”
HaBaWaBa is a creation of Waterpolo Development (WPD): discover who we are, our goals and our way to spread sports values and love for waterpolo among kids.
Watch some of the best HaBaWaBa moments
Images from the last editions of the event
Who we are, what we do
HaBaWaBa is a project by Waterpolo Development, a no profit association founded in 2006 by some of the greatest personalities in waterpolo community as Ratko Rudic, Gabriele Pomilio, Manuel Estiarte, Alessandro Campagna and more: our goal is to spread the love for waterpolo into the 5 continents as well as the noble values of sports and civil society.
HaBaWaBa is an acronym that stands for Happy Baby Water Ball, words that refer to the joy of a child playing the “game of the ball in the water”. Therefor the word HaBaWaBa identifies the game – it’s different from the waterpolo played by adolescent and adults and it’s adapted to the needs of kids – but also the universe of people and events that have been developed from it over the years, all over the world. The HaBaWaBa International Festival is the main event of the HaBaWaBa universe.
For the teams
Waterpolo Development organizes international HaBaWaBa events where waterpolo clubs have the opportunity to meet and face teams coming from far very different realities. WPD also offers its experts’ advice to organize youth waterpolo events and foster the exchange of ideas in order to spread the waterpolo development.
For the parents
HaBaWaBa events allows kids to live unique experiences outside their own family, increasing their sense of responsibility and fostering the encounter with different cultures. Parents can follow their kids’ improvement, making a journey into sports education and living an unforgettable experience in their turn.
For the kids
Fun is the better tools to provide the children values as fair play, respect for others and for the rules. Because of that, beside of the game in the water, HaBaWaBa events also contain recreational and educational workshops. HaBaWaBa strengthens the bond with waterpolo, feeding a passion that will help kids to discover the benefits and the values of sport.
Our sponsors
It’s time to discover our events!
That’s how and where we develop the HaBaWaBa project.
Fun & waterpolo
HaBaWaBa International Festival
It’s the biggest and more important youth waterpolo event in the world and it’s dedicated to kids coming from every corner of the Earth.
It’s held at the Bella Italia & EFA Village in Lignano Sabbiadoro (Italy) which hosts all of the participating teams: for a week kids, coaches and team managers live together into the village in a joyful atmosphere. Since its origins, HaBaWaBa International Festival has been divided into two competitions: in 2025 it will have U9 and U11 tournaments, which boys', girls' and mixed teams will participate in.
Since the 1st edition (2008) to the last one (2023), clubs coming from 28 different countries have participated in the Festival: in 2023, the event gathered 131 teams and had the record participation of 1.580 kids.
The 17th edition of HaBaWaBa International Festival will be held on June, 2025, from 15th to 22nd.
Growing up together
HaBaWaBa International Festival PLUS
In 2016 Waterpolo Development launched another international event that has added to the International Festival: it’s HaBaWaBa International Festival PLUS, dedicated to U13 players.
As its “older brother”, HaBaWaBa PLUS takes place at the Bella Italia & EFA Village in Lignano Sabbiadoro (Ita). In record edition of 2019 HaBaWaBa PLUS was joined by 63 teams, more than 900 little athletes and more than 2.000 attendees.
The 9th edition of HaBaWaBa International Festival PLUS will take place on June, 2025, from 22nd to 29th.
Worldwide
HaBaWaBa International Circuit
The success of HaBaWaBa format pushed Waterpolo Development to find new partners in order to start local HaBaWaBa events in different countries: that research led to the birth of the HaBaWaBa International Circuit, which is now present in such as 4 continents.
Events of HaBaWaBa International Circuit: HaBaWaBa Montreal in Canada, HaBaWaBa Greece in Athens, HaBaWaBa Spain in Tarragona, HaBaWaBa Belarus in Brest, HaBaWaBa Asia in Singapore, HaBaWaBa Brasil in Bauru, HaBaWaBa Egypt in Hurghada and HaBaWaBa China in Chengdu. And more events will be soon available in other countries.
Grassroots activity in Italy
FIN-HaBaWaBa and club tournaments
HaBaWaBa lowered the age of kids approaching to waterpolo and pushed the clubs to create U9 and U11 teams. However those teams needed to play during the whole season and not only at the summer events organized by Waterpolo Development.
In 2011 WPD and FIN - the Italian Swimming Federation - started to cooperate in order to support this “waterpolo fever” and in 2013 they launched the FIN-HaBaWaBa tournaments, played by the HaBaWaBa official rules, in different areas of Italy. Those competitions were more and more due to the coordination between FIN and FIN regional committees.
Also club tournaments, organized by clubs, have spread in parallel. During the years, the HaBaWaBa movement kept growing up: that’s a proof that waterpolo system can be powered by HaBaWaBa and can hope for a great future thanks to it.
HaBaWaBa news
Waterpolo Development World – Official Site
- HaBaWaBa 2025: online la nuova Guida alla Registrazione 29 October 2024Visita HaBaWaBa.com e iscrivi facilmente la tua squadra agli eventi per le categorie U9-U11 (15-22 giugno) e U13 (22-29 giugno)
- HaBaWaBa 2025: new Registration Guide online 29 October 2024Visit HaBaWaBa.com/en and easily register your team for the U9-U11 event (June 15-22) and the U13 competition (June 22-29)
- Ready to register for HaBaWaBa 2025? 14 October 2024On October 15 registrations open for the International Festival (June 15-22, U9 and U11 categories) and for the PLUS (June 22-29, U13 category). Here the details
HaBaWaBa Official App
Thanks to Delta I.S.O. company, in 2018 Waterpolo Development launched an HaBaWaBa official app that let you know every club, team and player participating in HaBaWaBa events. Using the app, you can also check the schedules and the live results and rankings of the competitions. Free download of the HaBaWaBa App is available on Google Play and App Store.
HaBaWaBa numbers
33.697
Total attendees
Since 2008 counting players, coaches, team managers, parents, fans and guests who participate in HaBaWaBa International Festival and HaBaWaBa PLUS U13
13.060
Kids
The kids aged from 6 to 11 who participated in HaBaWaBa International Festival since 2008. Such as 2.024 little athletes joined the 4 editions of HaBaWaBa PLUS U13
25
Countries
The nationalities of the players at HaBaWaBa International Festival and HaBaWaBa PLUS U13. During the years, all of the 5 continents were represented in the HaBaWaBa events
136
Teams
The teams participating in the HaBaWaBa International Festival record edition in 2018. That time such as 1.555 kids gathered in Lignano Sabbiadoro and 716 games were played in 6 days time
Contact us
President Prof. Bruno Cufino
Registered office WPD
Via Marco Polo, 25
81030 CastelVolturno (CE) – Italy
Via Marco Polo, 25
81030 CastelVolturno (CE) – Italy
WPD Management – admin@habawaba.com
Press office – redazione@wpdworld.com
General secretary – office@habawaba.com
HaBaWaBa International Festival – office@habawaba.com
HaBaWaBa Plus U13 – u13plus@habawaba.com
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