By David Nagel
Avengers Cricket Club – one of three new clubs in the Casey Cardinia Cricket Association (CCCA) this season – is already leading the way when it comes to giving back to the community.
Avengers, led by president Abhishek, hosted the 2023 Infinity Cup at James Bathe Reserve in Pakenham on Friday and Saturday over the grand final long-weekend.
The annual Tennis-Ball Tournament is designed to raise funds for the Avengers charity partner – Friends of the Children Foundation – that work with children’s hospitals for vital equipment upgrades.
A total of 14 teams from various parts of Melbourne participated in the tournament this year, with the aim of building on the fund-raising efforts the tournament has provided in its first three years.
CCCA president Rob Hansen was surprised at the size of the turnout.
“I didn’t realise the size and scale of what the Friends of the Children Foundation are involved in, and the Infinity Cup is just one of many activities that raise funds for the Royal Children’s Hospital and Monash Hospital,” Hansen said.
“The foundation has been going for over 20 years and has provided much-needed equipment to those hospitals.
“The Infinity Cup has only been running for a few years now, but to have 14 teams participating was quite staggering.
“The activity and vibrancy over the weekend was amazing and the community conscience on display was impressive to witness.”
Abhishek said the Avengers work in the community was built from a simple message.
“We are all in IT and wanted to contribute back to the community, and we were looking for a charity organisation to work with,” he said.
“A member of the Friends of the Children Foundation was working with us at the time, and asked us to become partners.
“We help out with volunteering at events and things like that, and the Infinity Cup is something that has developed over the last few years.
“There are a few things we aim to achieve with the tournament, and one is getting the community together and actually doing it instead of just talking about it.
“We included a lot of kids’ activities this time around, which meant parents and grandparents were all heavily involved as well.
“Friends of Children do a lot of work for hospitals and we’re very proud to help them perform that role.
“We’re very proud to be associated with them and happy that they’ve accepted us as one of their partners.
“It’s because of them that we formed the club, so there’s a bit of history there and we’ll continue to do the right thing.
“All funds are used to make sure that our future generations can have better health facilities.”
Avengers, Kerala Strikers and Melbourne 6s are the three new clubs in the CCCA this season.
