14 November 2019 | Tennis West

60 pre-primary students at Sacred Heart Primary School (Thornlie) will receive brand new ANZ Tennis Hot Shots racquets, thanks to ANZ.

Former Sacred Heart PS student and now WTA ranked world number 130, Maddison Inglis, will join Maddington Central ANZ Home & Investment Lending Manager, Kristy Hayes to present the free tennis racquets to the pre-primary students.

2019 has been a whirlwind of success for 21 year old Inglis who claimed her maiden ITF Singles title in Thailand, followed by a second title in Saskatoon, Canada and a third on Australian soil in Toowoomba. Cementing her position as one to watch, Inglis has been a fierce finals contender throughout the year finishing as runner up in Hong Kong, Brisbane and Bendigo.

Now in its third year, the Racquet Roadshow has encouraged kids Australia-wide to pick up a racquet and get involved in physical activity.
The Racquet Roadshow comes as an extensive 25-year observational study has confirmed that racquet sports, including tennis, can increase life expectancy by almost 10 years.

A further 30,000 racquets will be handed out to first year primary school students across Australia in over 500 schools this year, as ANZ’s ongoing support of the new school starter racquet initiative will see a total of 140,000 racquets delivered across Australia at the end of 2019.

“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.” Mr Dwyer said.

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
• ANZ Tennis Hot Shots is one of Australia’s most popular junior sports participation programs, with a record 543,850 participants in 2017/18, up 41% on 2016/17
• ANZ Tennis Hot Shots is popular with both genders: 44% girls and 56% boys participated in the program in 2017/18
• 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
• There are more than 3100 Tennis Australia primary partner schools in Australia delivering tennis as part of their health and physical education curriculum
• Tennis was the number one delivered sport through Sport Australia’s Sporting Schools initiative in Term 4 2018 and Term 1 2019.

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