Tennis in the front line to combat obesity

Tennis Australia is fighting the battle against obesity with a commitment to get more Australians of all ages playing tennis.

Renowned as one of the fittest players on the women’s tour, US Open champion and world No.21 Sam Stosur, has long been an advocate of getting more Aussies fit through tennis.

Stosur explained “tennis has been an incredible sport for me. I’ve been extraordinarily lucky to have the opportunity to travel the world doing something I love, and win some Grand Slam titles along the way.

“Tennis at any level, whether it’s little kids starting with Hot Shots, an after-work FAST4 comp, mid-week ladies, or a group of retirees getting together to have a hit, is a great way to socialise and have fun while getting fit.

“I loved playing sport at school and I’m really thrilled to hear so many kids now have the chance to discover tennis as part of the PE curriculum – it’s a great start to developing healthy habits to take through your entire life.”

Tennis Australia Director of Participation Paul Cammack applauded the Australian Medical Association’s call this week for a ‘whole of society’ response to tackling obesity by increasing access to sport and activity across the country.

Cammack stated “encouraging everyone, and especially kids, to be more active and play tennis is one of our key objectives.

“Our partnership with the Australian Sports Commission’s Sporting Schools Program has been very successful, and one we are dedicated to growing. We’ve already committed an additional $1 million into schools this year to get more kids involved.

“Tennis was the most popular sport in the program during term four last year, and first term this year, and more than 98,000 primary school students across 1830 schools participated in the ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Program as part of their health and PE curriculum.

“Through the program, and with our partner ANZ, we’ve also handed out more than 50,000 racquets to prep students around Australia since January last year.

“Tennis is a natural part of a healthy lifestyle, and one of the few sports you can play at any age or stage of life.

“We are constantly innovating and coming up with new ways to involve everyone in our great sport, whether it’s through introducing the FAST4 shorter format to suit busy lifestyles, tennis fitness programs such as Cardio Tennis, or creating easier access to facilities through the new Book a Court system, we pride ourselves on contributing to the health of the nation.”

Image: Sam Stosur (top, courtesy of SamStosur.com) and cardio tennis (below).

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