30 May 2018 | Tennis West

The 2018 ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Racquet Roadshow travelled to Broome, Geraldton and Perth as part of a national tour that will see tennis ambassadors Todd Woodbridge and Alicia Molik present racquets to primary school students, thanks to ANZ.

The first stop had Todd Woodbridge and ANZ Branch Manager Lesley Lawrie hand out racquets at Broome Primary School to 54 pre-primary students. Afterwards, students from the year 4/5 class were invited on court to take part in tennis activities with the tennis legend and Wimbledon doubles champion.

Meanwhile in Geraldton, Alicia Molik visited Rangeway Primary School where she addressed the school on her tennis journey, achievements and offered advice on participation in sport. With the help of ANZ Branch Representatives Kirsten and Owen, tennis racquets were handed out to the pre-primary students as teachers watched the delight on their students faces, wondering whether the next tennis star will come from their class. After the special assembly, year 6 students were taken out on sourt to run through tennis activities with Alicia Molik and Tennis West staff.

After visiting Rangeway Primary School, Alicia and the Tennis West team visited St Francis Xavier Primary School and were warmly greeted during a special assembly to once again present the pre-primary students with tennis racquets and encourage them to get involved in the sport.

The ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Racquet Roadshow continued on Friday at Gibbs Street Primary School in Cannington that were treated to a visit from both Todd Woodbridge and Alicia Molik. Both tennis legends addressed the school and spoke about some of their greatest achievements during the successful careers. They then presented 74 pre-primary students with brand new tennis racquets before heading on court with year 5 students.

The annual tour will see more than 30 schools visited nationally. ANZ’s ongoing support of this initiative has already seen 80,000 racquets delivered to pre-primary students since January 2015, with a further 30,000 to be delivered in 2018.

There are currently more than 2.650 schools participating in ANZ Tennis Hot Shots through the School Partnership Program as part of their health and physical education curriculum, a 20 percent increase on 2016-17.