Il più grande evento di pallanuoto giovanile al mondo: riservato a U9, U11 e U13, si tiene ogni anno a Lignano Sabbiadoro (UD) e attira squadre dai 5 continenti.
Quando è in programma il prossimo Festival?
Dal 13 al 20 giugno la settimana dedicata a U9 e U11, dal 20 al 27 giugno quella per gli U13.
Maschi e femmine giocano insieme?
Ai tornei U9 e U11 partecipano squadre femminili, maschili e miste. L’evento U13 è diviso in un torneo esclusivamente femminile e in uno per squadre solo maschili o miste.
Come ci si iscrive al Festival?
Visita la pagina dell’evento che interessa alla tua squadra (U9-U11 o U13) e segui la Guida alla Registrazione: contiene informazioni, obblighi, costi e scadenze. Ogni club può iscrivere più di una squadra nel singolo torneo.
Dove alloggiano le squadre durante il Festival?
Le squadre, composte da giocatori, allenatori e dirigenti, sono tutte sistemate all’interno del Bella Italia & EFA Village. Genitori, familiari e tifosi al seguito della squadra possono entrare nel villaggio pagando l’ingresso.
Cos’è il Passaporto del Campione?
È un codice etico: contiene i valori dello sport da rispettare per far parte della comunità HaBaWaBa.
Qual è l’obiettivo del progetto HaBaWaBa?
Diffondere i valori dello sport tra i bambini e creare un legame profondo con la pallanuoto attraverso un’esperienza indimenticabile.
The London team who participated in HaBaWaBa PLUS 2022 has won the U15 national title. Coach Palumbo: "Lignano changed these kids’ sports lives”
“HaBaWaBa has changed the lives of these kids”. That’s how coach Claudio Palumbo sums up the progress of West London Penguin, new U15 waterpolo champions of England after participating in HaBaWaBa PLUS in Lignano Sabbiadoro (Italy) last summer as U14 team.West London Penguin at HaBaWaBa PLUS 2022. In the picture above, Penguin players celebrating the victory at U15 age group English championships (image by Swimming.org).
The squad coming from London has triumphed in the tournament held last weekend at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield. Penguin has won all the games, beating City of Birmingham (18-4), Kingston Royals (14-2) and Caledonia (16-10) in the group stage; then in the knockout stage they have overcome City of Chester (14-9 in the semifinal) and clinched the title by winning 6-4 over City of Manchester, which was champion in 2021. Penguin player Maximos Karagiannis was elected MVP of the tournament, while his teammate Shai Saltman was top scorer of the competition getting 27 goals in 5 games (click here for all the tournament details).
Palumbo says that Penguin was able to achieve these results also thanks to their experiences in different HaBaWaBa events: players Adriano Porsia, Shai Saltman, Leonardo Benini, Matteo and Michelangelo Antonelli, Daniel Rahama, Daniel D'Souza and Victor Laslop were at HaBaWaBa PLUS last summer, while their teammates Ektor, Maximos and Rafail Karagiannis had won the U9 tournament of HaBaWaBa Greece in 2018, playing for Panionios. Rocco Sahmarides and Henry Manners completed the team in Sheffield.
Maximos Karagiannis, MVP of U15 age group English championships (image by Swimming.org).
“The last summer experience in Lignano changed the sports life of these boys, who also had already won the U14 London League last June - explains the Italian coach who led Imca, Acicastello, Pozzillo, Rari Nantes Napoli and Vomero Nuoto during his career - . After HaBaWaBa PLUS kids agreed to put more effort into training by asking their parents to take them to the pool every day, instead of 3 times a week as it’s usual here in England. And their passion paid off as they grew not only athletically but also in terms of individual technical skills. Being teammates with the Karagiannis brothers undoubtedly helped them in changing their attitude, as the Greek boys were further along in terms of their knowledge of waterpolo”.
After their triumph in the English championship, the youngest among Penguin players will get back to work as they prepare to return to Italy: next summer, the Bella Italia & EFA Village in Lignano Sabbiadoro will host HaBaWaBa International Festival 2023 (June 18-25, event reserved for U10 and U12 mixed teams), HaBaWaBa PLUS 2023 (June 25-July 2, U13 mixed teams) and new HaBaWaBa ExtraPLUS U14 (September 3-8, U14 boys’ or girls’ teams). “Our U14 players are looking forward to returning to Lignano next September for HaBaWaBa ExtraPLUS - Palumbo states - Their desire is the best example for the younger players and for the girls team, who do not want to miss the HaBaWaBa events in 2023, in order to keep growing as athletes and as a person”.
