Patras: children at HaBaWaBa yesterday, Greek champions today

HaBaWaBa feeds the passion for waterpolo and teaches kids not to give up. That’s the lesson that comes from Greece, where last Sunday Patras Nautical Club won the U13 national championships: to push new champions towards success it was also the love for the game and the experience they’ve done at the HaBaWaBa International Festival in 2017, when Patras, with the same group of little players, reached the 2^nd place in the U9 tournament, behind the French-Monegasque Team Azur Entente. The children of that time have grown up, they become real athletes and now they are also champions of Greece.  

Patras, coached by Michele Bartselas assisted by Billy Labatos, was undefeated in the preliminary stages of the U13 national championship and then held a triumphant path in the finals in Athens, clearly overcoming every opponent: Paleo Faliro (10-7), Chania (11-6), Panathinaikos (12-8), Paok (16-4), Glyfada (9-5 in the semifinals) and again Paleo Faliro (10-2 in the final).  According to the managers of the Greek club, the participation in the HaBaWaBa International Festival was crucial for the growth of these young waterpolo players. "The team of Patras Nautical Club based totally on athletes that the previous years have participated and gained valuable experiences and great motivation in the HaBaWaBa Waterpolo Festival, starting with the fascinating U09 Final back in 2017," explains secretary Takis Kalokerinos.  “The kids showed incredible unity and team spirit, absolute concentration to their goal (I.e. the conquest of a medal), incontestable belief about their capabilities and expected normally the  rewards of  their intensive training since now - technical manager Maria Papoulia states -. Having all kids played from the age of 8 and 9 years of age, at a fantastic final game of U9 HaBaWaBa (in additional to tens of other competitive games for three consecutive years and in front of an international audience consisted of thousands people) they have very early gained the necessary self-confidence to face challenges and harsh conditions, have created truly friendship between them and cultivated a passionate motivation and love for waterpolo and their team. These explain I believe the dynamic and power of our team expressed in the final score of each individual game”.  The U13 Greek champions of Patras Nautical Club: Elias Angelopoulos, Dimitis Valouxis, Paris Georgaras, Achileas Giotis, Georgio Digaletos, Christos Kotsonis, Sotiris Koulis, Kostantinos Kremantalas, Evangelo Labatos, Konstantinos Bitsakos, Dimitrios Nikolopoulos, Angelos Papakos, Giannis Tzavaras, Panagiotis Tountopoulos, Andreas Triantafillos, Gregorios Tsirakos. All. Michele Bartselas.

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