Discover who will be at HaBaWaBa International Festival 2018

HaBaWaBa International Festival keeps growing: after the success of the 2017 edition, the Waterpolo Development event will be even bigger and more exciting. Such as 138 teams will participate in the 11^th edition, scheduled on June from 17^th to 24^th 2018 at the Bella Italia & EFA Village in Lignano Sabbiadoro (Italy), 6 more than 2017: the U11 tournament goes from 110 to 114 squads and the U9 competition returns to 24 teams. The increased number of teams is the result of an huge effort by Waterpolo Development, in order to satisfy the large amount of registration’s requests received.

In 2017 1.529 little waterpolo players participated in HaBaWaBa International Festival

INTERNATIONAL EVENT. HaBaWaBa International Festival 2018 will once again be a truly international event. Nine countries will be represented: Brazil, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Principality of Monaco, Turkey, Hungary. After Italy, France is the nation with the biggest number of teams (19), followed by Hungary with 14 (Ferencvaros, U11 vice-champion in 2017 is among them) and Greece with 5: Patras, last year U9 runner-up, will be again at the Festival. Egyptian Gezira, representing the African waterpolo, will return to Lignano along with Lithuanian Vilnius, that missed the 2017 edition, Turkish Galatasaray, at their second experience at HaBaWaBa International Festival, and Brazilian Abda Bauru. The Principality of Monaco will be represented by AS Monaco Natacion in the U11 tournament, whereas the 2017 U9 champions Team Azur will once again be formed by French and Monegasque athletes. Among the Italian teams, 2017 U11 champions Posillipo Coccodrilli will be again in Lignano along with other prestigious Italian waterpolo squads as Bogliasco, Florentia, Ortigia, Pescara, Pro Recco and Savona. Below you can find a complete list of all participants in HaBaWaBa International Festival 2018.

NEW FORMAT. HaBaWaBa International Festival 2018 will have also some important innovations as the new format that will increase the number of games for every team: each U11 team will play 9 games minimum and 13 games maximum; each U9 team will play 9 games minimum and 11 games maximum.

In 2017 Team Azur Entent won the U9 competition, Posillipo Coccodrilli triumphed in U11 tournament

NEW RULE. A new very important rule has been inserted in the game regulation: during the game’s situation in equal numbers, an attacker can’t stay in the centerforward position (in front of the goal and inside the 5 meters area) for more than 5’’. That new rule was already tested in HaBaWaBa Plus U13: it aims to increase the dynamism and the speed of the game and, at the same time, to help the technical development of the little waterpolo players.

VILLAGE RENOVATION. Moreover, many of Bella Italia & EFA Village’s facilities were renovated, the venue will be nicer and more comfortable in order to please the numerous guests: HaBaWaBa International Festival 2018 could exceed the number of 3,611 participants (considering all of athletes, coaches, team managers, staff and fans) of 2017 edition.

COUNTDOWN. HaBaWaBa International Festival 2018 will start on June 17^th, when the teams will arrive in Lignano Sabbiadoro. Both tournaments, U11 and U9, will begin on June 18^th, finals are set for June 23^rd. The following day all the teams will leave the village.