Thirty of Bega’s tiniest tennis fans received brand new tennis racquets this week.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Bega’s St Patrick’s Primary School’s Kindergarten class joined Physical Education teacher Jannene Harnett, and Merimbula tennis coach James Poso on the school’s Bob Fisher Tennis Court on Tuesday to test out their new equipment.
The school has been chosen this year to receive racquets as part of the Tennis Australia and ANZ school racquet program.
Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said he looked forward to seeing more racquets in the hands of Australian children.
“This ongoing initiative shows out continued joint commitment with ANZ to increasing tennis participation and ensuring kids are active at school,” Mr Tiley said.
“Schools play a huge role in the development of children, and at Tennis Australia we want to continue to support schools in providing an environment where the health and wellbeing of students is a top priority.
ANZ Group Executive Fred Ohlsson said he is “thrilled” to help inspire children to take up the game.
“We’re committed to supporting tennis at all levels around Australia through ANZ Tennis Hot Shots and are thrilled to be delivering an additional 30,000 racquets around the country to get more children playing tennis,” he said.
According to the initiative, 80,000 racquets have been delivered across Australia since January 2015, with a further 30,000 to be delivered this year, bringing the total to 110,000 racquets.
ANZ Tennis Hot Shots and Tennis Australia’s School Partnership Program aim to encourage more children to pick up a racquet and learn tennis as part of their health and physical education curriculum.
Twenty-two time Grand Slam champion Todd Woodbridge is proud of the initiative’s success to date.
“The ANZ racquet initiative is a fantastic way to introduce and inspire more kids to play tennis,” Mr Woodbridge said.
“ANZ has helped us introduce tennis to kids in schools by delivering 110,000 racquets across the country which is an amazing achievement.
“For them to take a racquet home means that tennis is always within their reach and helps kids to develop healthy habits that keep them fit and active.”
Nationwide, more than 384,584 children played ANZ Tennis Hot Shots in 2016/17, making the program one of Australia’s most popular sport participation programs.
There are currently more than 2650 schools Australia wide who participate in the program.
