Public service announcements aimed at raising money for Kids Tennis programming set to air during Rogers Cup

July 31, 2013, Toronto – Tennis Canada announced Wednesday the launch of a national public service campaign promoting tennis participation for children across the country and the “Let’s Make Tennis Matter for Kids” fundraising initiative. The series of three spots are set to start airing during Rogers Cup presented by National Bank which takes place in Montreal and Toronto simultaneously from August 3-11.

The campaign plays off of the popularity of hockey, one of Canada’s national pastimes, in a light-hearted manner, using visuals that depict young hockey players in various states of disinterest with the sport and the tagline “Not all Kids in Canada want to Play Hockey.”

“We know that hockey in Canada is like a religion,” said Michael S. Downey, president and CEO, Tennis Canada. “But the truth of the matter is that not all kids are interested in lacing up their skates and hitting the ice for the first time. We want to ensure our sport is an option for those kids and their parents by increasing awareness and accessibility to Kids Tennis. This campaign and the resulting money raised will help us in achieving our mission of growing the sport of tennis across Canada.”

A public service campaign for Kids Tennis was launched in March 2012 which featured Canada’s top singles player Milos Raonic playing a young girl in a humorous spot. The goal of that campaign was to build awareness for Kids Tennis which uses slower balls, smaller courts and right-sized racquets to help kids learn the sport in a fun and easy way. This new series of PSAs is the next stage of that campaign and is aimed at raising mass appeal donations for “Let’s Make Tennis Matter for Kids” which will be used to expand Kids Tennis programming across the country.

Tennis Canada launched the “Let’s Make Tennis Matter for Kids” fundraising initiative in 2010 to allow for direct investment into Kids Tennis, giving all children a chance to benefit from the lifelong opportunities tennis provides. To encourage giving among tennis fans across the country, 14 passionate supporters have come forward and will match all donations made by December 31, 2013. Since its inception, the campaign has raised over $1.7 million, allowing more than 200,000 kids to try tennis for the first time.

The goal of the campaign is to break last year’s achievement of $300,000 in donations for Kids Tennis programming.

Developed by Toronto ad agency Bensimon Byrne, led by creative director Joseph Bonnici, two of the three spots will start airing during Rogers Cup on Sportsnet, RDS and SRC with the third to make its debut during Canada’s Davis Cup by BNP Paribas semifinal tie against Serbia which will be aired on Sportsnet and TVA Sports. Additional credit for the spots goes to production house OPC, audio team Pirate Radio and editing company Married to Giants.

The campaign will also be reinforced on site at Rogers Cup in both cities with presence on the videoboards, in the Tennis Canada booth and in the daily drawsheet.

To learn more about Let’s Make Tennis Matter for Kids or to donate, click here.

See also: Tennis takes on hockey

Popular reads