National school roadshow to celebrate record delivery of 80,000 tennis racquets

Tennis Australia has this week launched a national school roadshow to celebrate a record 80,000 racquets being delivered to primary school students across the country.

ANZ Tennis Hot Shots and the School Partnership Program are a vital part of Tennis Australia’s mission to encourage more children to pick up a racquet and learn tennis as part of their health and physical education curriculum.

ANZ’s support of the initiative has ensured prep students from registered schools receive a brand new racquet, with tens of thousands involved since January 2015.

22 time Grand Slam champion Todd Woodbridge, Australian Fed Cup captain and ANZ Tennis Hot Shots ambassador Alicia Molik, and local ANZ representatives will visit more than 30 schools nationally to deliver racquets and take part in on-court activities during the month of May.

Woodbridge is looking forward to sharing his love of the sport and presenting brand new ANZ racquets to primary school students around Australia, stating “the racquet initiative is a fantastic way to introduce and encourage more kids to play tennis and find the future champions of our sport.

“In just two years ANZ has helped us introduce tennis to kids in schools by delivering 80,000 racquets across the country which is an amazing achievement.

“The School Partnership Program gives primary school students the opportunity to learn tennis as part of their curriculum and to develop healthy habits that will help keep them active and fit for life.”

Tennis Australia Chief Executive Craig Tiley firmly believes sports like tennis are vital to children’s health and wellbeing at a young age, commenting “sport has, and continues to play, a very significant role in the lives of all Australian families and communities.

“Schools provide great opportunities for children to participate in sports, which in turn develops the physical, social and emotional skills which are critical to a child’s development.

“At Tennis Australia, we are very proud to support Australian schools and teachers in the delivery of sustainable health and physical education programs. Tennis values the importance of health and physical education, and the role which sports play in providing opportunities for children to be active.”

This week the schools’ roadshow are visiting:

VICTORIA
Bacchus Marsh Primary School, Bacchus Marsh
Kismet Park Primary School, Sunbury
St Carlo Borromeo Primary School, Greenvale
Victory Lutheran College, Wodonga
Yarrawonga P-12 College, Yarrawonga
St John’s Primary School, Euroa

NSW
South Wagga Primary School, Wagga Wagga, NSW
Lake Albert Public School, Wagga Wagga, NSW 
St Joseph’s Primary School, Wagga Wagga, NSW 
Springdale Heights Public School, Albury, NSW 
St Patrick’s Parish School, Albury, NSW

• ANZ Tennis Hot Shots is Tennis Australia’s official development program specifically designed to introduce primary school children between five and 12 years of age to tennis. The program uses smaller courts, racquets and low compression tennis balls.
• More than 2000 schools participate in the Tennis Australia School Partnership Program.
• More than 213,883 children aged between five and 12 years of age played ANZ Tennis Hot Shots in 2015/16, making it one of Australia’s most popular sport participation programs.
• Tennis is the number one delivered sport through the Australian Sports Commission’s Sporting Schools initiative.

Image: ANZ Tennis Hot Shots (top) and Craig Tiley (below).

8th March 2017 - EDUCATION BODIES CALL FOR PHYSICAL EDUCATION NEEDS TO BE AT THE FOREFRONT OF EVERY CHILD’S SCHOOLING

28th January 2017 - NEW SPORT MINISTER BACKS WOMEN’S SPORT AND ACTIVITY 

25th September 2016 - 1.2 MILLION PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS PARTICIPATE IN SPORTING SCHOOLS PROGRAM 

19th April 2016 - MEDIBANK AND TENNIS CARES SHARE PRE-LOVED TENNIS RACQUETS

20th January 2016 - TENNIS AUSTRALIA ENHANCES PLAYER PATHWAY FOR GIRLS AND WOMEN

8th October 2014 - GIANT TENNIS BALLS MARK AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2015 LAUNCH