Year 13 pupils Harry McLachlan, Jacob Cumming, Xavier Chisholm and Daniel Torr have launched a new business called OB Clean as part of the school’s business study programme.
The four promising sportsmen have come up with a product they hope will ease the nerves around handling sports equipment in these days of Covid-19 and prevent the spread of harmful germs.
It is an anti-viral spray they are calling Sportsprayer. That can be read ‘‘sport sprayer’’ or ‘‘sports prayer’’. It is a deliberate play on words.
You could pray all you like but the sport sprayer is much more likely to sanitise your sports equipment.
Gear like gloves, helmets and pads can harbour bacteria, mould and fungi which can cause illness and ‘‘our mission is to see Sportsprayer being applied habitually’’, they said in an email to the Otago Daily Times.
‘‘If we can minimise the risk of spreading disease, we can participate in playing sports, exercising around others and being healthier and happier.’’
They are also quite keen on making a few dollars.
The teenagers have chipped in $250 each and in just a couple of weeks their initial investment of $1000 has returned about $800.
They are on track to becoming profitable and, who knows, global domination?
The Otago Cricket Association and Football South have swung in behind the venture and bought some product.
And a few gyms have seen value in Sportsprayer as well.
‘‘Our main focus at the moment is getting it out of the region and into other regions like Auckland and Canterbury,’’ Daniel said.
‘‘Sport Otago has said they will look at helping us distribute it to other sporting regions.’’
