Support the Growth of Baseball in Cambodia

Ryan Simonson is organizing this fundraiser.

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Baseball is relatively new to the nation of Cambodia and needs international support to grow. Organized baseball first came to the country in the early 2000s, and Cambodia was first represented in international competition in the 2007 Southeast Asian Games. Since that time, the sport has seen modest growth in the country, limited by access to equipment and playing fields. Several clubs and youth development programs are scattered around the country, but they are in need of gloves and other baseball equipment for active and aspiring players. The annual average household income in Cambodia is only around $1500 USD, putting the purchase of a baseball glove or bat well out of reach for most citizens.

During a recent visit to Cambodia, I was able to visit one of the country's few dedicated baseball diamonds in Kampong Thom province and practice with players from the local Balaing team. Their passion for baseball has inspired me to help the Khmer people grow the sport I love in their globally emergent nation.

This spring and summer I am reaching out to my network of baseball teams, players, and organizations to collect donations of serviceable gloves and other baseball equipment for delivery to the Cambodian Baseball Federation in Phnom Penh. The pledges of equipment donations have been amazing but the cost of transporting the shipments overseas is a financial hurdle.

That's where you come in. Even the smallest monetary donation will help us transport this much-needed equipment to our friends in Southeast Asia, to be distributed to clubs and players around the country and help make America's Pastime a fixture for the Khmer people of Cambodia.