Six Indian youngsters in the age group of 12-15 years will get an opportunity to be part of the Australian Open, the Grand Slam of Asia/Pacific with Aviva Ballkids (kids who run to collect the tennis balls in a game of tennis) trials taking place in New Delhi in November.
Six Indian youngsters in the age group of 12-15 years will get an opportunity to be part of the Australian Open, the Grand Slam of Asia/Pacific with Aviva Ballkids (kids who run to collect the tennis balls in a game of tennis) trials taking place in New Delhi in November. This is part of Aviva’s continued support and sponsorship of the Aviva Ballkids at the Australian Open. Aviva is the first corporate ever to sponsor ballkids at the Grand Slam tennis tournament and has a four-year deal from 2005 to 2008 with the Australian Open.
Over 100 children of Aviva Life Insurance policyholders will be recommended to the Australian Open to join in and participate in the All India Tennis Association (AITA) program for the ballkids trials, out of which six will be selected to represent India. 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 hundreds of millions worldwide.
This initiative is a part of Aviva’s agenda to partner with the local community and provide opportunities to people the company is associated with.
Trials of the youngsters put forward by the AITA and Aviva will take place on the weekend of 26-27 November 2005 at RK Khanna Tennis Stadium in New Delhi. The selection process looks at a range of factors including hand-eye coordination, concentration levels, work ethic, reaction times, rolling of the ball and general tennis knowledge.
The selected ballkids 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.
For the last two years, since 2003, youngsters have been selected from Korea, Singapore, China, India, Thailand and New Zealand to be ballkids at the Australian Open. This year will see Aviva Ballkids selected from the Philippines, Singapore, Korea and India to be part of Australian Open 2006.
Mr Vivek Khanna, director - marketing, Aviva Life Insurance, said: “Aviva believes that responsible investment in youth development and training plays an important part towards a more sustainable future. Aviva has a long association with sports and the Australian Open is one more step in promoting youngsters in that direction. We are very pleased to bring this to the Indian youth ”
“We are always looking at innovative ways of connecting with our customers and this is yet another opportunity to reward our policyholders. Our customers will recommend their children to be Aviva Ballkids at the Grand Slam next year,” he added.
Mr Richie Gee, Asia/Pacific marketing manager, Australian Open, 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 and is made possible with support of our ballkids sponsor, Aviva”.
“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.”
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For further information, please contact:
Pooja Garg Khan
Aviva Life Insurance
E-mail: pooja.khan@avivaindia.com
Tel: 9811315510
About Aviva
Aviva Life Insurance is a joint venture between Dabur and Aviva. Current paid up capital amounts to 320 Crores. Dabur are the 74% shareholder and Aviva the 26% shareholder. Aviva plc is the UK’s largest insurance Group and the world’s oldest insurance Group, with a history dating back to 1696. Today, it is the sixth largest insurer worldwide, with 30 million customers and Ł291 billion assets under management. Prior to nationalization, Aviva was the biggest of the foreign insurers operating in the Indian market.
Founded in 1884, Dabur is one of India’s oldest and largest groups of companies with the Group’s consolidated annual sales in excess of Rs 1,537 crores. A professionally managed company it is the country’s leading producer of traditional healthcare products.
Aviva pioneered the concept of Bancassurance in India, and has leveraged its global expertise in this area successfully in India. Bancassurance has been contributing close to 65% of the total sales of Aviva India. Through its branches and its Bancassurance partner locations, Aviva products are available in 200 towns and cities across India.
Aviva’s products have been designed in a manner to provide customers flexibility, transparency and value for money. We have been among the first companies to introduce Unit Linked products in the market.
Aviva has a unique need based sales approach through the “Financial Health Check” (FHC). The FHC is a free service administered by our FPAs (Financial Planning Advisers) for a need-based analysis of the customer’s long-term savings and insurance needs. Depending on the life stage and earnings of the customer, the Financial Health Check assesses and recommends the right insurance product for them.
Aviva is also keen to reach out to the underprivileged that have not had access to insurance so far. Through its association with Basix (a micro financial institution) and other NGOs, it has been able to cover lakhs of lives.