The biggest youth water polo event in the world: for U9, U11 and U13, held every year in Lignano Sabbiadoro (UD) and drawing teams from five continents.
When is the next Festival?
From 13 to 20 June the week for U9 and U11, from 20 to 27 June the week for U13.
Do boys and girls play together?
U9 and U11 tournaments include girls’, boys’ and mixed teams. The U13 event is split into a girls-only tournament and one for boys-only or mixed teams.
How do you enter the Festival?
Open the page of the event for your team (U9-U11 or U13) and follow the Registration Guide: it contains the information, duties, costs and deadlines. A club can enter more than one team in a single tournament.
Where do teams stay during the Festival?
Teams, made up of players, coaches and officials, all stay inside Bella Italia & EFA Village. Parents, family and supporters travelling with the team can enter the village by paying admission.
What is the Champion’s Passport?
It is a code of ethics: the values of sport to respect in order to be part of the HaBaWaBa community.
What is the aim of the HaBaWaBa project?
To spread the values of sport among children and create a deep bond with water polo through an unforgettable experience.
Sport, smiles, ethics: it's HaBaWaBa Brasil · HaBaWaBa
Sport,smiles,ethics:it'sHaBaWaBaBrasil
The 1st HaBaWaBa event in South America was a success: 175 little players attended and 46 games were played in 4 days. Zopone: "Every kid learned a lot"
At the end of 2020, the HaBaWaBa movement restarted from Bauru, Brazil, with an event that reminded the waterpolo world of the importance of the values of sport: HaBaWaBa Brasil. The first historical HaBaWaBa event in South America ended last Sunday satisfying all of the participants and telling that this edition is only the first step for the spreading of the “game of the ball in the water" throughout the continent. Great credit must go to ABDA, the non-profit association chosen as organizer by Waterpolo Development, which took care of the event in every detail, allowing 175 little athletes of 14 mixed teams of 13U category to return to have fun playing waterpolo. Their parents were not allowed to enter the ABDA sports center due the anti-pandemic measures: only for the final games on December 13 - broadcasted live on Facebook - 200 spectators were admitted to the ABDA Arena, a facility that has a much larger capacity. The Hungarian Olympic champion in Montreal '76 Attila Sudar and the Brazil international waterpolo player RudàFranco and Leticia Belorio attended too.All the pictures by Wilian Olivato
During HaBaWaBa Brasil 46 games were played in 4 days: the Cobra d'Agua won the title in the Tsu tournament, beating ADPM 7-5 in the final; the prestigious victory of the Titan tournament went to ABDA, winning over Sesi Interior 14-6. Luso team took the Fair Play Trophy. And after the finals, a special award was also appointed to Eduardo Seidy Kitamoto, 9 years old, as the youngest player of the 1st edition of HaBaWaBa Brasil."It was a fantastic weekend - coach of the ABDA Emerson Martins said -, where the children interacted a lot with the other teams. The biggest result was to see that all the kids, not only in my team, evolved a lot in different aspects, from the game and outside the pool, as in commitment and discipline. The tournament greatly strengthened the spirit of unity of the team. The athletes stayed together the whole time, one helping the other”.
However HaBaWaBa Brasil wasn't just about sports. The little HaBaWaBa players participated in break dance clinic, chat with Sudar, meet the basketball players from the local Bauru team and took part in a nutrition workshop with ABDA's nutrition team. In addition, the teams had fun in the new Aquatic Complex Thermas De Piratininga and the inflatable toys of the municipal Department of sport and leisure (Semel), installed at the site of the event. Also coaches had activities outside the pool: they participated in workshops on basic waterpolo, with the technician Emerson Martins, and on the Rudá Franco method, with Paula Bitencourt.
"HaBaWaBa Brazil 2020 far exceeded our expectations, within the current context of the pandemic, both in the technical part and in acceptance and organization - Claudio Zopone, president and founder of ABDA, stated -. The event was impeccable, with the children demonstrating a lot of evolution in the technical part and also in behavior, discipline and ethics. We had no problems, there were no serious fouls in the competition, no disrespect with arbitration or opponents. For next year, we expect to at least triple the number of participants in the event. And we intend to make HaBaWaBa Brasil grow more and more within the calendar of the modality. We are very happy to now be part of the HaBaWaBa family, teaching our children more and more the love of sport as a life-transforming platform”.Final RankingTitan Tournament1st - ABDA2nd - SESI-INTERIOR3rd - LUSOTsu Tournament1st - COBRA D’AGUA2nd - ADPM3rd - ABDA FEMWinner of Fair Play TrophyLUSOHaBaWaBa Brasil gallery (for further pictures visit official HaBaWaBa Brasil Facebook page)
