7 May 2014 | Tennis Queensland

ANZ today announced its sponsorship of Tennis Australia’s fast-growing children’s starter program, ANZ Tennis Hot Shots.

Since its launch in 2008, Tennis Hot Shots has become one of the most popular sports programs for primary school children in Australia, with more than 500,000 children experiencing the program in the past 12 months alone.

Designed specifically for five to 10-year-olds, ANZ Tennis Hot Shots uses smaller racquets and softer balls to make it easier for children to get into tennis and start playing from the moment they pick up a racquet.

ANZ CEO Global Wealth and Group Managing Director Marketing and Innovation, Joyce Phillips, said: “We are very pleased to be supporting ANZ Tennis Hot Shots. Many of our customers and staff are passionate about tennis and this program enables us to support the sport both at the elite level and throughout hundreds of Australian communities.

“ANZ is committed to growing this sport across the region and ANZ Tennis Hot Shots is a continuation of our investment into grassroots participation, which started in 2013 with the ANZ Junior Tennis program in Shanghai.”

Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said the new partnership was an exciting initiative for grassroots tennis.

“We are delighted ANZ has come on board to work with us in promoting ANZ Tennis Hot Shots,” he said.

“Tennis is a fantastic sport that can be played for life, and our Hot Shots program is just the beginning of that journey. We share with ANZ a passion for growing and engaging communities throughout Australia, and look forward to working closely together at this grassroots level.”

ANZ has been supporting tennis in Australia since 2010 as an Associate Sponsor of the Australian Open. In addition to taking on the ANZ Tennis Hot Shots program, its new partnership with Tennis Australia includes a further five years as Associate Sponsor of the Australian Open.

In year one, ANZ will invest funds to provide tennis equipment for local communities, as well as provide funding for an additional 50 schools currently on the wait list to join the ANZ Tennis Hot Shots program.