Sport has always been a central part of my life. I have competed in numerous sports, and although I never mastered one, I've consistently embraced and enjoyed the challenge.

Out of all the sports I've played, soccer was definitely my first love. I still remember getting my first pair of Adidas Predators at 7 and collecting every ball I could find or convince my parents to buy. I had a sack in the garage with over 10 soccer balls, in addition to various other sporting balls. At 9, I started playing tennis, and the number of balls I owned multiplied exponentially. My poor mum always found balls lying around the house. However, she knew these scattered balls were in fact a positive sign, as it meant that I was running around, staying active and connecting with others.

Since the pandemic, I no longer play competitively and therefore have discarded most of my old sporting balls and sporting equipment, either through hard rubbish collections or by simply tossing busted balls into the bin without much thought. Recently, I realised just how damaging this common practice is to our environment, with sport balls ending up in landfill for centuries. The under-discussed sustainability issues in sport, such as this, became clear to me.

When the opportunity to properly address this issue arose, I was immediately interested. I have always loved sandals and would take any chance to wear sandals over other types of shoes, whether it be before or after playing footy, going to the local café, the beach, or while backpacking and light trekking. I was thrilled by the prospect of working alongside my very talented co-founders Lili and Elijah to repurpose the rubber from sports balls to create trendy, sustainable, and comfortable sandals for yourself, and the rest of our Australian community.

I am excited for the day our first sandals enter the market and am confident they will be a fan favourite.

Join Us

If you also want to see a sustainable Australian sporting future, we urge you to drop off your old sporting balls at one of the many drop off bins at your local Rebel store.

Next week, we will be hearing about Elijah’s connection to Ludis!

To follow our journey more closely, follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn!

Score for the Earth