A group of six lucky Singapore youngsters will get the chance to be part of one of the world’s biggest sporting events when the Australian Open hold trials to select Aviva Ballkids for next year’s Grand Slam tournament in Melbourne.
A group of six lucky Singapore youngsters will get the chance to be part of one of the world’s biggest sporting events when the Australian Open hold trials to select Aviva Ballkids for next year’s Grand Slam tournament in Melbourne.
This is part of Aviva’s continued support and sponsorship of the Aviva Ballkids at the Australian Open. Aviva’s four-year deal from 2005 to 2008 is the first corporate sponsorship of the ballkids at the Grand Slam tennis tournament. The sponsorship is in recognition of the excellent global reach the Australian Open receives and it reflects Aviva’s position as the sixth largest insurer in the world and the top five in Singapore.
Those selected will be part of a contingent of 36 Aviva Ballkids from across Asia who will be flown to Australia in January to feature on court beside some of the biggest names in world sport, and be seen by millions worldwide.
Trials to select the representatives from Singapore will take place at the Kallang Tennis Centre on the weekend of 17 and 18 September 2005 involving youngsters put forward by Singapore Tennis Association and ballkids sponsor Aviva. The two-day selection process looks at a range of factors including hand-eye coordination, concentration levels, work ethic, reaction times and general tennis knowledge.
If selected they will be flown to Melbourne in early 2006 for further training to be ready for the Grand Slam tournament which runs from 16-29 January.
Singapore holds a special place in the Australian Open’s International Ballkid Program. In 2003, it was the first nation outside Australia to have ballkids selected to take part in the Australian Open.
Since 2003, youngsters have also been selected from Korea, China, India, Thailand and New Zealand. This year will see Aviva Ballkids selected from the Philippines, Singapore, Korea and India to be part of the 2006 Australian Open.
Richie Gee, Australian Open Asia/Pacific marketing manager, said: “The 2006 Aviva Ballkids trials form part of a wider program of events conducted by the Australian Open to assist the Asian Tennis Federation in the development and promotion of tennis in the region in our role as the Grand Slam of Asia/Pacific.
“This exciting initiative will give a group of youngsters the unforgettable experience of visiting the Australian Open as a ballkid in their home Grand Slam and hopefully inspires them to one day return to the tournament as a player.”
Gilbert Ng, general manager of Singapore Tennis Association, said: “STA is grateful to the Australian Open, in its role as the Grand Slam of the Asia-Pacific, for providing yet another opportunity for Singapore kids to be part of one of the four Grand Slams in the world.
“STA also express its gratitude to Aviva for sponsoring this program. The Singapore kids who were selected for the 2004 Australian Open had the opportunity to watch the pros at training, as well as in competition. Besides tennis, our kids also had the chance to develop friendships with the ballkids from the other countries in the program.
“Having watched the top players in action has motivated our kids to train harder than before. This is indeed the initial steps to hopefully seeing some of our young players eventually playing in the Australian Open.”
Tim Beardsall, director of marketing, Aviva Singapore, said: “Aviva’s association with the Ballkids is truly about youth development and we are pleased to bring this to a group of young people in Singapore.”
Aviva will be opening the Aviva Ballkids trials to children aged between 12 and 15 with Aviva life insurance policyholders; or if any one of their parents own Aviva life insurance and investments policies. Those who qualify and wish to sign up for the Singapore Trials must write to aro@aviva-asia.com by 4 September or fax to 63217724. Please include name of parent, name of child (according to i/c or passport), his/her birthdate, contact details and the Aviva policy number.
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For further media information please contact:
Fulford Public Relations
Joanna Ford
Tel:+65 6324 9316
Mobile: +65 9112 2320
e-mail: jford@fulfordpr.com
Australian Open
Richie Gee, Asia/Pacific Marketing Manager
Tel: +61 3 9286 1175
Mobile: +61 (0) 411 876 877
Notes to editors:
About Aviva
Aviva is the 6th largest insurer in the world and the biggest in the UK. In Singapore, Aviva is a top three life insurer in the regular savings segment and the leading company in the Bancassurance and the Broker segments. Aviva is also the major provider of Employee Benefits and Healthcare solutions to corporations in Singapore with one in three insured employees being covered by Aviva.
About Australia Open
Other initiatives the Australian Open has been running include:
- Funding and Sponsorship of a new Asian 14/U Series
2004 also saw the Australian Open team up with the Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) to launch a new tournament Series to help the development of young players in Asia by offering them the chance to gain international playing experience.
The inaugural 14/U Series, sponsored by the Australian Open, saw tournaments held in eight countries spread across the five Asian regions. Tournaments were held in Delhi, Seoul, Beijing, Bangkok, Tashkent, Doha, Manila and Colombo (Sri Lanka). The winners from each region went forward to the Asian 14/U Series Final which was held at the home of the Australian Open - Melbourne Park – from 8-10 January 2005, immediately prior to the start of the Grand Slam tournament.
The success of last year’s initiative has seen the program develop in 2005 with 25 tournaments taking place in 15 countries. - Maindraw Wildcards
The Australian Open has been offering wildcard entries to Asian players since 1997, and since 2002, these have been offered to the winners of the Asian Tennis Championships to help the development of the tournament and tennis in the region. Among previous recipients of the Asian Wildcard for the Australian Open is Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan, who has gone on to become one of the stars on the Tour, becoming the first Asian man to achieve a Top 10 singles ranking. Australian Open 2004 saw the Asian Wildcard initiative being extended to also offer main draw men’s and women’s doubles wildcards, as well as a mixed doubles wildcard. - ITF Asia/Oceania 14/U WJTC Qualifier at Melbourne Park
Earlier in 2005, with Australian Open support, Melbourne Park played host for a third successive year to the ITF World Junior Tennis Competition Asia/Oceania qualifier which saw more than 90 children aged 14 or under, from 16 countries in the region, do battle at the home of the Grand Slam of Asia/Pacific. - Asia/Pacific Training Camps
Representatives of the Australian Open, led by former world No.7 Peter McNamara, have been undertaking clinics in the region for the past three years to pass on Australian coaching expertise and training methods to local coaches and top juniors.
In 2004 representatives of the Australian Open hosted coaching clinics for national coaches and national juniors in India and Korea, along with a seven-day training camp in China. In October 2004, the Australian Open held its first ever Asia/Pacific Training Camp for the region (in Thailand from 18-22 October) with up to 80 national juniors & 25 national coaches participating from seven countries – Thailand, Singapore, East Timor, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Philippines and Japan.
The 2005 Training Camps will take place in Thailand (October) and India (November) The Australian Open annually attracts over half a million visitors through the gates at Melbourne Park to see the world’s top players in action. TV coverage of the 2005 tournament was beamed to an additional half a billion homes worldwide with Asia taking 46 per cent of all coverage.