From Lignano to Glyfada: HaBaWaBa means happiness
The 6th edition of HaBaWaBa Greece was a success: ANOG (U12 and U14 boys), Euskadi (U14 girls) and Ilioupolis triumphed, Florentia won the Fair Play Trophy
From Lignano Sabbiadoro to Glyfada, the HaBaWaBa recipe keeps making children happy and strengthening their bond with waterpolo. After the success of HaBaWaBa International Festival and HaBaWaBa PLUS 2023 - which reached pre-Covid attendees - the “game of the ball in water” was also the center of HaBaWaBa Greece, the event held last week in Glyfada, in the outskirts of Athens.
The 6th edition was the biggest in the history of HaBaWaBa Greece, an event that is part of the HaBaWaBa International Circuit: the Glyfada Nautical Club welcomed 49 teams and 565 little waterpolo players of U10, U12 and U14 age group categories coming from Cyprus, Italy, Bulgaria, Spain and of course Greece to its beautiful Olympic swimming pool. Thanks to the perfect organization by Delta I.S.O., which is Waterpolo Development's partner, 192 matches were played and 2.402 goals ware scored in 4 days.
And now, let’s discover the winners. The White Sharks of Ilioupolis, a club that two weeks earlier had represented Greek waterpolo at the HaBaWaBa International Festival in Lignano, triumphed in the U10 category. In the U14 girls tournament the victory went to Euskadi, team representing the Basque Country: their success was widely covered at home. Finally, ANOG Glyfada did a double by reaching the gold medal in the other two age group categories: the Warriors won the U14 boys competition and the Seagulls succeeded in the U12 tournament. Thanks to this double success, the host club became the Super Champion of HaBaWaBa Greece.
Italian waterpolo was under the spotlights when the time special prizes came: Rari Nantes Verona took home both Golden Baby award - awarded to the youngest player at the event - thanks to little Edoardo Liberati, and the individual Fair Play Trophy, won by coach Claudio Caorsi.
The team Fair Play Trophy, on the other hand, went to Florentia, who arrived in Glyfada with the U14 girls team coached by Olympic silver medallist winner Aleksandra Cotti.
Cotti was not the only waterpolo celebrity at HaBaWaBa Greece: personalities such as Hellenic waterpolo legend Giorgos Mavrotas (5 Olympic participations) and the current head coach of Greece men team Thodoris Vlachos did not want to miss the “game of the ball in the water” show. This show never ends and continues around the world: in just over a month's time Chengdu, the town of pandas, will host the 1st edition of HaBaWaBa China, while registration is already open for the 4th edition of HaBaWaBa Brasil, scheduled to take place in Bauru from 13rd to 17th December, 2023.
The 6th edition was the biggest in the history of HaBaWaBa Greece, an event that is part of the HaBaWaBa International Circuit: the Glyfada Nautical Club welcomed 49 teams and 565 little waterpolo players of U10, U12 and U14 age group categories coming from Cyprus, Italy, Bulgaria, Spain and of course Greece to its beautiful Olympic swimming pool. Thanks to the perfect organization by Delta I.S.O., which is Waterpolo Development's partner, 192 matches were played and 2.402 goals ware scored in 4 days.
And now, let’s discover the winners. The White Sharks of Ilioupolis, a club that two weeks earlier had represented Greek waterpolo at the HaBaWaBa International Festival in Lignano, triumphed in the U10 category. In the U14 girls tournament the victory went to Euskadi, team representing the Basque Country: their success was widely covered at home. Finally, ANOG Glyfada did a double by reaching the gold medal in the other two age group categories: the Warriors won the U14 boys competition and the Seagulls succeeded in the U12 tournament. Thanks to this double success, the host club became the Super Champion of HaBaWaBa Greece.
Italian waterpolo was under the spotlights when the time special prizes came: Rari Nantes Verona took home both Golden Baby award - awarded to the youngest player at the event - thanks to little Edoardo Liberati, and the individual Fair Play Trophy, won by coach Claudio Caorsi.
The team Fair Play Trophy, on the other hand, went to Florentia, who arrived in Glyfada with the U14 girls team coached by Olympic silver medallist winner Aleksandra Cotti.
Cotti was not the only waterpolo celebrity at HaBaWaBa Greece: personalities such as Hellenic waterpolo legend Giorgos Mavrotas (5 Olympic participations) and the current head coach of Greece men team Thodoris Vlachos did not want to miss the “game of the ball in the water” show. This show never ends and continues around the world: in just over a month's time Chengdu, the town of pandas, will host the 1st edition of HaBaWaBa China, while registration is already open for the 4th edition of HaBaWaBa Brasil, scheduled to take place in Bauru from 13rd to 17th December, 2023.
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