Nautique delivered food to needy families in Cambodia and worked with local owners to open the Kam-Air Wake Park, the country’s first wakeboarding facility.
Nautique athletes Shaun Murray, Bob Soven, Raimi Merritt and Emily Durham traveled from Orlando, Fla., to Cambodia last week, along with Nautique and Aktion Parks staff, as part of a Nautique Cares initiative.
The group joined the owners of Kam-Air Wake Park, Alf Evans and John Phifer, whose vision is to use the sport of wakeboarding as a platform to make a positive impact.
The team delivered food to 150 needy families working in brick factories, visited organizations fighting human trafficking and worked with several locals at the wake park, offering inspiration and wakeboarding instruction. Kam-Air, which officially opened Oct. 17, is Cambodia’s first and only wakeboarding facility. Its mission is: “Create liberty for the oppressed through action sports.”
The park celebrated its opening day with an amateur wakeboarding contest and a demo from the pros on the first and only kicker ever built in Cambodia.
Cambodia’s national newspaper “The Cambodian Daily,” had a front-page story about the Nautique Cares team’s visit and the work being done by Evans and Phifer. Nautique said Evans and Phifer do not simply wish to provide employment to young people, but also want to help them become role models.
“Our Nautique Cares initiatives continue to make a significant impact around the globe. We are excited to have had the opportunity to work with Alf and John and support their work at Kam-Air Wake Park to uplift the people of Cambodia,” Nautique president Greg Meloon said in a statement. “The Nautique team is dedicated to helping those in need, and we are happy to have once again been able to include our world-class professional athletes, who offer inspiration to everyone they meet.”
