These Legendary Teens Are Donating Cricket Bats To Refugees

People are always talking about the power of sports to bring people together. Now, a bunch of Year 9 students from Melbourne are channelling that power by refurbishing old cricket bats to donate to refugees and other disadvantaged groups! They’re aiming to make sure the national pastime is accessible to everyone, and man are they doing well.

Since starting their non-profit organisation, Bats4Life, last year, the teens have refurbished and donated more than 100 bats, according to their website. They describe themselves as just “a group of Year 9 students, who recognise how fortunate we are to be getting new cricket gear every year whilst some kids don’t have gear at all.”

They also point out that in addition to cricket, “another major attribute of Australian culture is our willingness to lend a hand to those in need and our readiness to help the less fortunate.”

The government could take some notes from these kids.

Speaking to RN Drive this morning, Bats4Life 15-year-old co-founder Hamish Bogdan said the idea of donating bats came to him after a conversation with a family friend.

“He sort of noticed that around our community there were a lot of bats being left around. A lot of boys, once they get a new bat — which is every season or two seasons — their old bats just lying around,” Bogdan said.

“At the time I was running a YouTube channel reviewing cricket equipment, and he knew I was an avid cricketer so he came and asked me about it to see if I had any ideas. That sort of sparked the idea, and then I approached my friend Pat and we founded Bats4Life.”

The organisation collects used cricket bats from local clubs and schools, and refurbishes them by sanding them down, adding new grips and testing them for quality. So far, they’ve donated bats to a number of groups, including the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, which provides support to asylum seekers arriving in Australia. Bogdan told RN Drive this morning that he hopes supplying bats to refugees can “help integrate them into our society through something that’s so enjoyed by so many Australians”.

“What we’ve seen is that since they’ve come here and they’ve found this game cricket, they’ve seen how much Aussies love the game, and how it can bring together communities no matter what your background is,” he said.

Bats4Life is currently working on a collaborative event with Willo Industries, a business started by a young autistic man called Will. Will refurbishes cricket bats for artists to paint on, and uses the proceeds from art sales to work on growing Willo Industries into an inclusive business for people living with disabilities.

Bats4Life donated a number of bats to the cause, and after Will’s refurbishment they’ve been painted by some of Australia’s top artists, including Archibald Prize winner Ben Quilty and musician Jimmy Barnes. The two organisations will hold a joint art exhibition and fundraising event at BrightSpace Gallery in Melbourne on October 20. If you’re interested in attending, you can check out the Facebook event here.

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Feature image c/o Bats4Life.org