HaBaWaBa 2024: the Croats of KPK champions in the U12
Sweet first time for KPK, new HaBaWaBa U12 champion!
The boys from Korcula beat Pecsi 9-7 on penalties: no Croatian team had ever triumphed in Lignano before. HaBaWaBa PLUS (U10 and U13) starts tomorrow
The first half of the HaBaWaBa 2024, the largest water polo event for children in the world, taking place at the Bella Italia & EFA Village in Lignano Sabbiadoro (UD), has come to an end. The HaBaWaBa International Festival, a tournament dedicated to the U12 category, ended today: the Croatian team KPK beat 9-7 on penalties Hungarians fromPecsi Sportiskola in the final played in front of 2 thousand spectators in the Olympic swimming pool. For the Croatians of the splendid island of Korcula, this is the first title won at HaBaWaBa: the hero of the match was the goalkeeper Luka Timur Seinpaal, who after regulation time ended in a draw ( 6-6) saved 3 penalties.
In third place, ex aequo, were the Pro Recco/Rapallo Gialli (with the best result ever in their history at HaBaWaBa) and the Montenegrins of Primorac of Kotor.
The teams received trophies and medals immediately after the final of the Gold tournament together with the teams who reached the podium in the smaller tournaments (Silver, Bronze and Rock&Pop). But during the closing ceremony which will be held this evening in the village square, all 87 participants in the event will be rewarded.
Special prizes will also be awarded: the ActiveSG Water Polo Academy in Singapore will receive the Fair Play Trophy, a prize dedicated to the team that has shown greater adherence to the HaBaWaBa values in course of the tournament. Giorgio Rigotti, a 7-year-old player of Aquatica Torino, will instead be awarded as the Golden Baby of the Festival, i.e. the youngest water polo player of the event.
The HaBaWaBa International Festival will end tonight with the big outdoor party that will follow the closing ceremony, but HaBaWaBa 2024 continues. Tomorrow the U12 teams will leave the village and make room for the 24 U10 teams and the 46 U13 teams who will compete in the HaBaWaBa PLUS tournaments from Monday >.
Tomorrow 23 June, the day of break from tournaments, HaBaWaBa will also be happy to welcome the Italian National of Paralympic water polo of the FINP for an exhibition match scheduled for 9.30 am in the Olympic swimming pool: "a nice way of showing that water polo belongs to everyone", the words of the coach. Mario Giugliano.
Overall, HaBaWaBa 2024 – event supported by World Aquatics, European Aquatics, FIN and CONI and realized thanks to the help of the sponsors of the sponsors Turbo, Compact Goals, Ossidabile and All Risk Insurance Consulting – you will see the participation of 156 teams from 5 continents and 17 countries: Australia, Croatia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, Palestine< /b>, Monaco, Romania, Singapore, United States, Switzerland >, Turkey and Hungary.
What is HaBaWaBa
HaBaWaBa is an acronym that stands for "Happy Baby Water Ball", words that refer to the joy of a child when he tries "playing with the ball in the water" . By HaBaWaBa, therefore, we must primarily understand the game invented by Waterpolo Development, a simplification of the sport of water polo for children, but also the universe of people, events and appointments that arose from it. p>
At the center of this universe are the HaBaWaBa International Festival and HaBaWaBa PLUS, the youth water polo events born in 2008 and which over the years have become the largest and important in the world. Conceived and organized by the non-profit association Waterpolo Development, HaBaWaBa includes play-educational workshops and promotes aggregation and knowledge between children from all over the world. All the teams stay inside the Bella Italia & EFA Village in Lignano Sabbiadoro, without parents but under the control of the coaches, transforming it into a sort of small Olympic village.
