Born and raised in Huntington, California, USA, the force behind the surfing movement entered the Lebanese sport sector in 2012, where he decided to partner with Halabi, a business entrepreneur and extreme-sport enthusiast, to bring their passion for surfing into their home country to enhance the availability of the sport through enabling people to interact with their coastline while simultaneously promoting a “peaceful climate” within the sport institution and exhibiting the country’s potential as an all-year-round destination for surf. Initially when we started the federation, we wanted to spread it from North to South. Lebanon is on a coast so it’s very accessible to get to the water in Lebanon. We thought that by doing the federation, we could give a green pass to all the surfers to use the beach. Lebanon is not just a party, snowboarding, hummus festival-type of place. You can get surfers from around the world in. Because when surfers travel they don’t just travel for the waves, they travel for the culture, for the food, and we have all that.” “The people in Lebanon are some of the coolest humans in the world and they’re super nice and we do have good food as well as good waves. While we don’t have world-class waves like in Indonesia or Australia, on a good day, we could be one of the best places on the planet.”
How the Lebanese Surfing Federation is implementing cultural change｜Arab News Japan
