College Sports

Hungary rules at HaBaWaBa PLUS 2025

If Egypt is the new powerhouse of the HaBaWaBa movement, as demonstrated last Saturday by Sodic Sports Club’s double in the U9 and U11 categories, the Hungarian school is a timeless certainty: the U13 finals day of the HaBaWaBa International Festival PLUS 2025 turned into a stage of excellence for Magyar waterpolo. In both the […]

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3 weeks ago

June 28, 2025

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If Egypt is the new powerhouse of the HaBaWaBa movement, as demonstrated last Saturday by Sodic Sports Club’s double in the U9 and U11 categories, the Hungarian school is a timeless certainty: the U13 finals day of the HaBaWaBa International Festival PLUS 2025 turned into a stage of excellence for Magyar waterpolo. In both the women’s U13 tournament and the mixed team competition, in fact, the final challenges were entirely “made in Hungary”.

Szentes player celebrating the U13 Girls HaBaWaBa PLUS win (ph. Giacomello).

The final of the U13 girls’ tournament (11 teams participating) starring Szentes Starfish and OSC Girls from Budapest was exciting and balanced. The game, played point to point, ended in a draw (7-7) before being decided in an electrifying final chapter on shootouts. Thanks to saves by number 1 Emma Meszaros, it was Szentes Starfish who won the gold medal, ending the match on 11-10 score: it’s the first HaBaWaBa title for the club coming from South Hungary.

The U13 mixed-teams tournament had as many as 58 squads at the start, a marked increase from 51 teams registered in 2024. PSN Sharks – club from the city of Pecsi that won the U11 title at HaBaWaBa in 2019 – and Balaton VK from Balatonfuzfo were face to face in the final game. The two teams put on a superb technical and competitive match, leading the score by turns: a goal by the Sharks with 35’’ to go set the score at 6-6, sending the game to shootouts. At penalties phase, kids from Pecsi handled the tension better, winning overall 9-7 and clinching the second ever HaBaWaBa title for their club.

PSN Sharks’ joy after winning the U13 mixed teams tournament at HaBaWaBa PLUS 2025 (ph. Giacomello).

SEMIFINALS AND THIRD PLACE. In the morning semifinals of the U13 girls’ tournament, Starfish Szentes overcame the Swiss RZO U13D team 12-4, while OSC Girls won 8-3 over Entente 95 Filles from France. In the final for 3^rd place RZO U13D defeated 7-3 Entente 95 Filles and took the lowest step on the podium.

In the U13 mixed teams’ tournament, the semifinals ended with Balaton’s narrow victory over Vasas (7-6) and PSN Sharks’ success over Rapallo Gialli (9-4). The final for 3rd place ended with Vasas’ victory over the Italian team (13-11).

PSN celebration… (ph. Giacomello).

FAIR PLAY. During the closing ceremony, the winning teams of the Fair Play Trophy will also be awarded: the trophy is assigned to the most correct teams in the two tournaments based on the scores given by the juries. In this edition, it was lifted by Universo Silvi – at its first ever participation in the U13 girls’ tournament – and Pescara Nuoto e Pallanuoto, in the mixed team competition.

SEE YOU IN 2026. HaBaWaBa 2025 has thus come to an end, in the last two weeksthe “game of the ball in water” brought together at the Bella Italia & EFA Village in Lignano Sabbiadoro 147 teams from 5 continents and 15 countries: Australia, Croatia, Egypt, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Montenegro, Palestine, Monaco, Singapore, Slovakia, Switzerland, Turkey, United States.

The event – supported by World Aquatics, European Aquatics, FIN, CONI and realised thanks to the help of sponsors Turbo, Compact Goals, Ossidabile and All Risks Consulenze Assicurative – proved once again to be a huge success, a true festival capable to create unforgettable memories in little athletes, coaches and fans, transforming waterpolo into a means of spreading the noblest values of sport.

HaBaWaBa will return to Lignano Sabbiadoro in the summer of 2026, but the HaBaWaBa movement will continue to gather in the coming months in the various stages of the HaBaWaBa International Circuit scattered around the world, from Brazil to Egypt, from Spain to South East Asia.

PSN Sharks on the podium of HaBaWaBa PLUS 2025 (ph. Giacomello).

PSN Sharks on the podium of HaBaWaBa PLUS 2025 awarded by Olympic champions Zoltan Szecsi e Branislav Mitrovic (ph. Giacomello).

Szentes Starfish, HaBaWaBa International Festival PLUS 2025 U13 Girls tournament champions: Emma Meszaros, Lea Szolfi Ludescher, Boglar Toth, Petra Boldizsar, Eszter Tyukasz, Ajsa Jenei, Emma Kata Hekedi, Lena Kecskes, Kata Szabo, Lilla Galfi, Kiara Vanda Nagy, Liliana Berkes, Laura Somogyi, Luca Meszaros. Coach: Fruzsina Bravik.

PSN Sharks, HaBaWaBa International Festival PLUS 2025 U13 mixed teams tournament champions: Balazs Marcz, Zalan Tibor Kovacs, Peter Lubiczki, Bence Daniel Chvojka, Manolo De Blasio, Adam Zalan Becsei, Zsigmond Labossa, Sebestyen Wagner, Otman Taya, Donat Horvath, Adam Kindl, Balint Jozsef Kovacs, Goran Predacs, Miroszlav Poszovacs, Dominik Kovacs. Coach: Tamas Voros.

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In 2024, the Trojans finished with a 7-6 record, going 4-5 in Big Ten conference play. Though the team did earn and win a bowl game, it was Riley’s worst season with USC. Only winning four conference matchups and going on a three-game losing streak was not a good look for Riley, leading to the belief that he is on the hot seat.

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Livvy Dunne calls out New York Times for 2022 ‘Sex Sells’ headline, recalls aftemath

Back in 2022, the New York Times put together an article about the new NIL era in college athletics. LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne was a part of the story, with a picture of her being used. The headline ended with the two words “Sex Sells” and it’s something Dunne has been critical of ever since. […]

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Back in 2022, the New York Times put together an article about the new NIL era in college athletics. LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne was a part of the story, with a picture of her being used. The headline ended with the two words “Sex Sells” and it’s something Dunne has been critical of ever since.

She expanded on the topic recently when appearing on the What’s Your Story? podcast. Dunne explained the process of how the New York Times went about a photoshoot. Nothing different than what she would normally wear as a gymnast.

“They came to our gymnastics facility at LSU, took pictures of me,” Dunne said via What’s Your Story? “They said, ‘wear your team-issued attire, put on a leotard,’ and they took a picture of me standing in front of the beam, like any gymnast would, and then they blew it up on the screen and put the headline, ‘Sex Sells.’

“Okay, well, you just came into the facility and took pictures of me in our team-issued attire and blew it up on a screen… So I was like, ‘okay, well, this is crazy.’ And there was obviously a lot of backlash to the New York Times because of that.”

Dunne has been one of the faces of NIL since college athletes were allowed to be paid. Not many athletes out there have built a bigger brand for themselves in that time. The portfolio expands well outside gymnastics too, as Dunne partners with a large number of brands out there.

This is not the first time Dunne has called out this specific article, either. Once describing it as “BS,” Dunne knew something was off from the very beginning while being interviewed.

“The interviewer called me and he was asking me very odd questions,” Dunne said in 2023 on the FULL SEND PODCAST. “It was worded quite weird. He was like, ‘So, how does it feel to be a small petite blonde gymnast doing so well with NIL?’ I was just like, ‘Why does it matter that I’m petite and blonde?’ You can just ask me about NIL without you having to use these weird ways of saying it.”

Dunne has since run out of eligibility, ending her gymnastics career. Her affinity for LSU has not changed though, most recently cheering on the Tigers in Omaha as Jay Johnson led them to another national championship.

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Blake Wheeler, Who Once Ruptured A Testicle, Officially Retires After 16 NHL Seasons

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Right-winger had his best years in Winnipeg, including a pair of back-to-back 91-point seasons

PublishedJuly 19, 2025 6:39 PM EDT•UpdatedJuly 19, 2025 6:39 PM EDT

He didn’t sign with an NHL team last season, so there was speculation that he may be hanging them up, but not former Winnipeg Jets captain Blake Wheeler is making it official: he’s retiring.

Wheeler appeared on an episode of the radio show Jets at Noon this week and revealed that he had decided to call it a career after 16 NHL seasons and 1,172 games played.

“More or less, right after last year knew I was all done,” Wheeler said, per Global News. “I just haven’t felt like a rush to make a formal announcement or anything. But yeah, after my injury and kinda the way things ended last year, I just didn’t have anything left in the tank for it. So yeah, I was at peace with it almost immediately after last year, and yeah, I’m just enjoying being a dad and kinda slowing things down a little bit, and being around my family.”

Wheeler, a native of Plymouth, Minn., played for the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL and then played college hockey for the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Despite being selected by the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2004 NHL Draft, Wheeler signed with the Boston Bruins as a free agent in 2008. In 2011, he was traded to the Atlanta Thrashers and played the tail end of their season before the team moved to Winnipeg.

After 16 NHL seasons, Blake Wheeler has officially announced his retirement. (Photo by Andreea Cardani/NHLI via Getty Images)

Wheeler had his best years in Winnipeg, including a pair of back-to-back 91-point seasons, and was named the team’s captain for the 2016-17 season.

In 2023, he signed with the New York Rangers, but missed a chunk of the season with a leg injury. He appeared in one game for the Blueshirts during the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, which proved to be his final NHL game.

Congrats to Wheeler on a heck of a career. I think he’s going to go down as one of the most underrated Americna-born players. He was on the 2014 Olympic team and was a Hockey Guy’s Hockey Guy.

I mean, who could forget when he ruptured a testicle and stayed in the game?

Now that’s peak Hockey Guy-ism.

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Don’t let anyone tell you that hockey doesn’t belong in the desert, because Tempe, Arizona is quickly becoming a hotbed.

Shortly after getting its first-ever first-round draft pick in Cullen Potter, the Sun Devils keep piling up the high-end commits.

This time, two ASU commits were invited to USA Hockey’s Selection Camp for the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, which occurs every summer.

It’s a prestigious tournament that features the world’s most talented players under the age of 18, and some of the biggest names in the NHL have participated in it over the decades.

Ben Kevan, an ASU commit and second-round NHL Draft pick, participated in last year’s Cup.

This season, defenseman Henry Chmiel, who boasts a large frame for someone his age, will take the ice.

At just 17 years old, he stands 6 feet tall and weighs 212 pounds.

He’s coming off an exceptional career at Shattuck St. Mary’s, a program that’s developed high-end NHL players for years.

This past season at Shattuck, he posted five goals and 20 assists in 55 games.

Chmiel is expected to spend next season in the USHL with the Des Moines Buccaneers, who selected him in the fourth round of the 2024 USHL Futures Draft.

Continuing the trend of young, big-bodied skaters, Jimmy Egan will also be participating.

Currently, Egan stands at 6-foot-2, 187 pounds, and he’ll be playing for the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League next season.

As part of the NCAA-CHL agreement, players are allowed to start their careers in major junior before transitioning to the college ranks.

It’s the perfect trajectory for a young player, especially someone who’s dominated practically everywhere he’s played.

This past season, Egan tore up the U16 AAA ranks with Sioux Falls Power, racking up 45 points in 26 games.

Once Sioux Falls’ season ended, he suited up for three games with the Omaha Lancers of the USHL, though he didn’t score.

Granted, the Lancers were the worst team in the league by far, and Egan’s chances of succeeding were slim.

That’s why, after the season, he committed to playing in Brandon for the 2025-26 campaign before making the jump to college.

It’s a new day for Arizona State hockey, and it’s become a destination for young players who not only want to enjoy the desert weather but also get a high-end education and develop into NHL players.

When you walk through the desert, that’s not a mirage you’re seeing — that’s an ice rink. And it’s leading you to a program that’s building a perennial contender for years to come.

Please follow us on X when you click right here and let us know you’re thoughts on ASU hockey!

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