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9 September 2019 | Tennis West

Australian tennis legend and former Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald made a special visit to three schools in Perth last week as the ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Racquet Roadshow continues its tour across Australia.

Fitzgerald presented 40 pre-primary students at Kardinya Primary School, 60 students at Our Lady’s Assumption School and 100 students at Landsdale Primary School, with brand new tennis racquets, thanks to ANZ.

Now in its third year, the ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Racquet Roadshow encourages school aged children nationwide to pick up a racquet and play tennis.

The annual tour continues its journey this month after an extensive 25-year observational study confirmed racquet sports, including tennis, can increase life expectancy by almost 10 years.*

In 2019, 30,000 tennis racquets will be delivered to first year primary school students in more than 500 schools.

By the end of the year, ANZ’s ongoing support of the racquet initiative will have seen a total of 140,000 racquets delivered to students in Australia since 2015.

“Many of our customers and staff are passionate about tennis and we’re thrilled to be renewing our significant support of tennis in Australia. This program enables us to support the sport throughout hundreds of Australian communities,” ANZ Group Executive, Australia Business and Private Bank, Mark Hand said.

“We’re committed to growing this sport across the region and ANZ Tennis Hot Shots is a continuation of our investment into grassroots participation.”

“As a national sporting body, we have an opportunity to make a positive contribution to getting kids active. I believe tennis is uniquely placed to help put an end to the inactivity crisis that is currently facing this next generation of children in Australia,” Tennis Australia’s Chief Tennis Officer, Matt Dwyer said.

“By introducing a racquet to these children in their formative years at school we can help play a role in their approach to physical activity and create lifelong memories through tennis, and with the recent research that suggests tennis can add a further 9.7 years to your life, why wouldn’t you start playing.”

“We’re proud of our partnership with ANZ and grateful for their ongoing support of tennis and their commitment to growing the game at all levels.”

Dr Carolyn Broderick, Associate Professor at UNSW’s School of Medical Sciences agreed, adding, “The recent findings from the Copenhagen City Heart Study show an association between playing tennis and improved longevity.

“Whether it is the social interaction or the physical activity component of the sport that contributes to the longer lifespan, the findings are very encouraging for people of all ages taking up the sport of tennis.”

You can read all about the study here. 

ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Racquet Roadshow fast facts:

• The ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Racquet Roadshow will visit all states and territories across Australia for the third consecutive year
• By the end of 2019, ANZ will have delivered a total of 140,000 racquets to primary school aged children since 2015
• Tennis Australia’s School Partnership Program aims to give children the opportunity to pick up a racquet and play tennis as part of their health and physical education curriculum
• ANZ Tennis Hot Shots is one of Australia’s most popular junior sports participation programs, with a record 702,509 participants in 2018/19 across coaching programs, community play and primary schools, up 29 per cent on 2017/18
• The program continues to be popular with both genders, 48 per cent girls and 52 per cent boys participated in coaching and community play programs.
• In 2018-19 tennis programs in primary schools reached a record 586,291 students across Australia
• Tennis continues to remain extremely popular in Sport Australia’s Sporting Schools initiative. In Term 4, 2018 and Term 1, 2019 it was the number one delivered sport by primary and secondary schools in Australia
• There are currently more than 3188 schools across Australia participating in the School Partnership Program as part of their health and physical education curriculum.

For further information about ANZ Tennis Hot Shots please visit www.hotshots.tennis.com.au