Mo Buckets for Movember

Monday, November 15, 2021

This year, Tyler Harvey of the Illawarra Hawks has taken up the Movember cause and he’s using the NBL Blitz as a way to raise funds.

Written for nbl.com.au by Tom Hersz

For nearly 20 years, Movember has been a great way to raise awareness and money for Men’s Health.

Originating in Adelaide in 1999, it then grew considerably when an unrelated group brought it back 5 years later in Melbourne. Since then, Movember has become an internationally recognised phenomenon when it comes to Men’s Health charities with millions of people participating and hundreds of millions of dollars being raised.

This year, Tyler Harvey of the Illawarra Hawks has taken up the cause and he’s using the NBL Blitz as a way to raise funds.

Partnering with lululemon, Harvey has committed to donate $1 for every point the Hawks score at the Blitz.

“I’ve always been a fan of Men’s Health and wanting to get involved in a way to give back to the community,” Harvey told NBL Media on Friday.

“So, when I heard Movember was coming around, I actually partnered up with lulu for this month and we just wanted to bring awareness to it. I think it’s important and I don’t think it’s talked about enough, so that’s why I wanted to donate.

“And what better way than to help the Hawks score, right? Because the more we score, the better for us and the better for everybody.”

Movember charities around the world raise much needed funds for several causes such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer, men’s suicide and mental health.

While Harvey hasn’t had to face those sorts of challenges, there have certainly been times in his life when he’s needed support from others to get through some tough times or lift his mental wellbeing.

“My family has always been there for me, for support, and that’s the one thing I always relied on,” he explained.

“You know, things get tough. Life’s not easy, but my family, my wife, they’re always there to pick me up whenever I need it and I’m forever grateful for that, for sure.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Instant. Bucket. Getter.<a href="https://twitter.com/YoungTRaaw?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@YoungTRaaw</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HWKatCNS?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HWKatCNS</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> <a href="https://t.co/Z6YakEEoOl">pic.twitter.com/Z6YakEEoOl</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1354731312901308417?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 28, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Harvey won’t be the only member of the Hawks who’ll be growing out his facial hair. He hasn’t really tried to rope in his teammates, but at least one has jumped on board.

“A.J.’s involved,” Harvey said of teammate A.J. Ogilvy.

“I didn’t want to put too much on people. I wanted to bring awareness and if people want to jump on then of course they could, but I know A.J.’s involved with it, so you can check his stache out on TV tomorrow. I told him it’s getting a little crazy.”

The Hawks’ NBL Blitz campaign tips off on Monday against South East Melbourne. While last season their identity was built more around defence (as you’d expect from a Brian Goorjian coached team), this year they’ve added some more firepower and are expected to have a high-scoring roster.

Led by All-NBL First Teamer Harvey – who signed on for three more years with the Hawks – they’ve also added Xavier Rathan-Mayes, Antonius Cleveland, Harry Froling and Duop Reath to a roster that already featured Justinian Jessup, Sam Froling, Emmett Naar and Tim Coenraad, so the Hawks should be able to put up some strong points totals.

And of course, the more they score, the more Harvey will donate. Just how much is he hoping to be able to raise?

“Ooh wee man. You know what, I don’t how much we can score in 40 minutes, but I’m hoping it can be quite a bit,” he chuckled.

The Hawks have four games at the Blitz, so if they can at least match their output from last season, Harvey will donate a few hundred dollars. But of course, he’s hoping it’ll be more than that. He’s also hoping that others may jump on board and match his donations or at least help to support his efforts.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Was there ever any doubt? That’s our star <a href="https://twitter.com/YoungTRaaw?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@YoungTRaaw</a> taking out a place on the All-NBL First Team! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IllawarraProud?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IllawarraProud</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://t.co/5bH7JDpdxp">pic.twitter.com/5bH7JDpdxp</a></p>— Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1405111791470792705?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 16, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Of course, part of this campaign is not shaving for the entire month of November. Harvey normally sports a short beard, but he’s not shaved that off to start fresh for the month.

“No, I’m just going to let it go,” he said.

So what it will end up looking like by the end of the month is anyone’s guess.

“I haven’t grown out my facial hair this long in [a while],” admitted Harvey.

“I didn’t start growing facial hair probably til College, so I don’t know what this is going to be looking like, but it’s all for a good cause. It doesn’t really matter how it looks right? It’s all about bringing awareness to the cause.”

Indeed it is. And Harvey will post updates on his Instagram account (@traaaw) through the month, so fans can follow along there.

“I’ll be posting on there coming Monday – our first game – so we’ll start adding it up,” he said.

Fans can find a link on his Instagram profile to his personal Movember page if they want to support his cause, but Harvey is just hoping to raise awareness for Men’s Health as much as he’s hoping to raise funds.

“Just the fact that, when I post it, if it brings awareness to it, that’s all you can ask for,” he explained.

“You can’t beg people to donate, but you can go to lululemon’s website and they have a link on there and just donate there. But like I said, if people want to, they can.

“But know that I’m doing everything I can to bring awareness to it, and hopefully the Hawks can score quite a lot of buckets at the Blitz.”

If you would like to donate, you can find Tyler’s page HERE

A.J. Ogilvy’s page is HERE

Or you can donate via lululemon HERE

The Illawarra Hawks face the South East Melbourne Phoenix tonight at 5:30pm AEDT at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.