MUMBAI: Life insurance company Aviva has announced that it will give six Indian youngsters in the age group of 12-15 years the opportunity to be a part of the year's first tennis Grand Slam, The Australian Open, in early 2006.
The lucky six will be able to be a part of the Asutralian Open 2006 as ball boys and girls.
Aviva Ball-kids trials will take 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 states that it is the first corporate ever to sponsor ball-kids 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 policy holders will be recommended to the Australian Open to join in and participate in the All India Tennis Association (AITA) programme for the ballkids trials. Six will be selected to represent India.
Those selected will be part of a contingent of 36 Aviva Ball-kids 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 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 ball-kids 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 2006.
For the last two years, since 2003, youngsters have been selected from India, Korea, Singapore, China, Thailand and New Zealand to be ball kids at the Australian Open. This year will see Aviva Ball-kids selected from India, the Philippines, Singapore, Korea to be part of Australian Open 2006.
Aviva Life Insurance marketing director Vivek Khanna says, “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 policy holders. Our Customers will recommend their children to be Aviva
ball kids at the Grand Slam next year."
