Stab Magazine | Yo Kelly! Afghanistan Wants A Wave Pool

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Yo Kelly! Afghanistan Wants A Wave Pool

Exiled Afghan refugees think surfing might help cure their homeland’s war-torn misery.

news // Aug 23, 2016
Words by stab
Reading Time: < 1 minute

Charlie Don’t Surf but if the Taliban did maybe they’d chill the f**k out a bit. Thats the plan for the Wave Riders Association Of Afghanistan (WRAA) who hope to develop surfing in their war-torn, landlocked homeland ahead of the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. 

It’s a big dream but WRAA President Afridun Amin hopes the construction of a wave pool and the exploration of the region’s river-surfing potential, which will be carried out with the help of American and German river-surfers, might get them on their way.

Made up of exiled Afghan refugees living in France, Portugal and the rest of Europe, the WRAA is preparing to have its second Afghan surf championships in October on the French Atlantic coast. The winner will get the chance to compete in the next ISA World Championships, echoing the goodwill shown to the refugee team by the International Olympic Committee at the recent Rio olympics. The ISA recognises the WRAA as a governing body and has pledged its support to helping develop the sport in the region.

“We hope that the Olympic Games 2020 will accelerate the construction of a wave park on Afghanistan,” says Afridun Amu, president of WRAA. “An important step on our way is definitely also this second Afghan surf championship. WRAA is happy to welcome everybody interested in Hossegor 2016!”

Kelly Slater, who has Syrian ancestry and is famous for using his profile to make the world a better place, has designed the best wave pool prototype yet. It’s set to be made available to the public for the first time in San Diego but how about one for Afghanistan? We’ll leave it with him.

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