Tournaments – HaBaWaBa Returns: Lignano the World Capital of Water Polo for Kids
Tomorrow marks the start of the 17th edition of the world's biggest youth water polo event: 147 teams from 15 countries coming together for two weeks of more than just sports activities
An international event, a grand celebration of sport and its noble values: it's HaBaWaBa, the world's biggest children's water polo event, which from tomorrow until June 29 will return to Lignano Sabbiadoro (UD), in the Bella Italia & EFA Village. A total of 147 teams have registered for the 2025 edition, coming from 15 different countries and from all 5 continents: in total, over 1,500 young water polo players between 6 and 13 years are ready to experience the sporting event of their lifetime.
The event – made possible with the support of sponsors Turbo, Compact Goals, Ossidabile, and All Risk Consulenze Assicurative – kicks off tomorrow, June 15, and is as always divided into two parts: it starts with the 17th edition of the HaBaWaBa International Festival, featuring 61 mixed teams (composed of boys and girls) in the U11 category and 17 teams U9; from Sunday, June 22, until June 29, it will be the turn of the 9th edition of the HaBaWaBa International Festival PLUS, with 58 mixed U13 teams and 11 exclusively female teams.
The teams will come from: Australia, Croatia, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, Palestine, Principality of Monaco, Singapore, Slovakia, United States, Switzerland, Turkey, Hungary. Therefore, at least one team from each continent will be present.
Sunday is the day dedicated to the teams' arrival, while Monday, the 16th, marks the start of the U11 and U9 tournaments: to know participating teams, players, schedule, and results, download the official HaBaWaBa app for free. Saturday, June 21, will host the U11 and U9 finals. Prizes are planned for all participants, in addition to the winning teams, and the Fair Play Trophy will be awarded to the most well-behaved team.
However, HaBaWaBa is more than just a sports competition: young athletes will have the opportunity to interact with each other, make new friends, have fun in the village facilities – where all athletes stay together with coaches and officials, without parents (!) – and meet peers from distant countries. Once again demonstrating the extraordinary power of sports in bringing people together and educating on civil coexistence.
But HaBaWaBa is also an experience that strengthens the bond of young athletes with water polo. Many children who have passed through here – like Italy's Francesco Condemi, Tommaso Gianazza, Dafne Bettini, and Sofia Giustini, who have become international water polo players, even competing in the Olympics – are the HaBaWaBa Stars.
What is HaBaWaBa
HaBaWaBa is an acronym that stands for "Happy Baby Water Ball," reflecting a child's joy when playing "the game of the ball in water." For HaBaWaBa, it primarily refers to the game invented by Waterpolo Development, a non-profit organization with key figures from the water polo world such as Ratko Rudic among its founders: it is a simplified version for children of the sport of water polo, as well as the universe of people, events, and appointments that have stemmed from it.
At the center of this universe are the HaBaWaBa International Festival and the HaBaWaBa International Festival PLUS, youth water polo events born in 2008 and over the years becoming the largest and most important globally. Created and organized by the non-profit association Waterpolo Development, HaBaWaBa is now "supported by" World Aquatics, European Aquatics, COMEN, FIN, and CONI. In addition to the four competitions (U9, U11, U13 mixed and female), HaBaWaBa includes educational play workshops and promotes aggregation and understanding among children from around the world. All teams stay inside the Bella Italia & EFA Village, without parents but under the supervision of coaches, turning it into a sort of small Olympic village.
Fabrizio Napoli
Waterpolo Development
