BNP Paribas RCS Rising Star Tennis will be expanded even further this season, after such a successful series last year. This will extend the reach to more children and schools to make a bigger difference through social development initiatives as the programme returns for a highly anticipated third edition in 2022.
The news comes as BNP Paribas, and their wholly owned consumer finance subsidiary RCS, announced their continued commitment on Wednesday to the partnership with Tennis South Africa (TSA) and a third edition of the programme to grow the game across the country.
Launched in 2019, the Tennis SA development project involved over 2 000 children and nearly 400 primary schools. After a break in 2020 due to the COVID-19 lockdown, the series returned with a bang last year, reaching over 3 000 children from nearly 800 schools in 40 districts around SA after the campaign was expanded to include high school and wheelchair tennis divisions.
Again, catering for primary school, high school and wheelchair tennis players this year, the BNP Paribas RCS Rising Star Tennis series will target 1 200 schools as it continues to grow the sport of tennis through grassroots development, taking the game to the youth around the country, including disadvantaged communities.
2022 – an increased focus on community infrastructure and impact
More than just a development competition, the BNP Paribas RCS Rising Star Tennis will again reach out beyond the court to grow the game holistically – from talent to infrastructure.
This year's focus will address the shortage of equipment and playing surfaces by including multiple tennis activations, with a focus on Namakwa (Northern Cape), Mafikeng (North-West). Ehlanzeni (Mpumalanga) and Central Karoo (Western Cape) where tennis equipment will be donated to schools in these communities to help them prepare for the series.
There will also be tennis clinics, featuring live and virtual sessions with the BNP Paribas Rising Stars Tennis ambassadors, including Wimbledon finalist Kgothatso Montjane, rising star Kholo Montsi, and award-winning sports presenter Carol Tshabalala.
This year's campaign will support 24 schools around the country, including Baikagetse Primary School in Daveyton, with the sponsors having committed to providing equipment to create more opportunities for the youth in these communities. In addition, Baikagetse Primary School’s tennis court facility was upgraded. Tennis was introduced at the school in 2019, with their team finishing sixth at the Benoni leg of the inaugural BNP Paribas RCS Rising Star Tennis competition. Since then they have struggled to grow the sport due to a lack of proper facilities and resources. In response to this, Tennis SA has ensured the court at the school has been revamped and that the pupils have received all the tools they need to develop their talent and compete at their best.
CEO of BNP Paribas Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) South Africa, Kieran Fahy, commented: We are delighted that the Rising Star Tennis Initiative will be continuing for a third year. It has already achieved so much success in terms of growing grass roots tennis in South Africa. Tennis is part of BNP Paribas’ DNA, and the Group supports many tennis initiatives across the world. Not only is this part of our tradition to support the sport, but this programme also reflects BNP Paribas’ Environmental, Social and Governance values - creating an impact that extends beyond a tennis court, into the communities and economies in which we operate. This impact is also reinforced by BNP Paribas’ Coaching Mentorship Programme, which trains and develops tennis coaches in disadvantaged communities to make tennis accessible to everyone. We believe that there is immense potential for these two initiatives to support the growth of the sport in South Africa.”
CEO of RCS Group, Regan Adams commented: “At RCS we believe that sport is one of the most crucial forms of social upliftment and mobility. We only need to look at the history of our country to understand the potential that sport holds to unite and uplift us. The Rising Star Initiative therefore perfectly aligns to our Social Responsibility focus of uplifting youths through sport. Since 2019, we have been encouraged by the impact that the series has had on the lives of countless youth from around the country. With the focus on tennis infrastructure development this year, we hope to create even more impact by supporting Tennis South Africa in the renovation of sport facilities and sponsoring of equipment within these communities.
Tennis SA CEO Andre Homan thanked BNP Paribas and RCS for their continued support to grassroots tennis in South Africa, “We are very fortunate to have the support of BNP Paribas and RCS Group who continue to invest in grassroots tennis and helping to make our sport more accessible to all communities in South Africa. The additional support this year towards facility upliftment and provision of equipment is a true game-changer in addressing challenges of playing surfaces and equipment.
Entries for the 2022 BNP Paribas RCS Rising Star Tennis series will open on 13 April and close on 31 May. This year's district and provincial events will be held across South Africa between June and October, and the Finals will be played between 4-6 November in Gauteng.
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About BNP Paribas and tennis
BNP Paribas is today the number one partner to tennis worldwide, with a commitment, unrivalled in sport, which goes back all the way to 1973. The Group’s support covers all levels and dimensions of the game all over the world, including singles, doubles, team tennis, wheelchair tennis and family tennis, ranging from beginners’ training to the top professional tournaments.
- Professional Tennis: Official sponsor of the French Open at Roland Garros; title sponsor of the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas; title sponsor of three ATP Masters 1000 tournaments – the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters, the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (Italian Open) in Rome; partner to the Open 13 (Marseille), the Parc de Lyon Open, the BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open and the Fever-Tree Championships (Queen’s Club, London), European Open (Anvers);
- Wheelchair Tennis: BNP Paribas Open de France; BNP Paribas World Team Cup;
- Junior & University Tennis and Academies: The Junior Davis Cup by BNP Paribas and Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas; the Master’U BNP Paribas;
- Amateur Tennis: Sponsor of the BNP Paribas Family Trophy; also providing support to over 1,000 amateur tournaments around the world, as well as being the mainspring of a number of ground-breaking social projects linked to tennis, through partnerships with more than 20 national tennis federations and working in tandem with dozens of tennis-based charities such as the charity organisation Fête le Mur founded and chaired by Yannick Noah
- The younger generation: the ‘BNP Paribas Young Talent Team’, in association with the French Tennis Federation and mentored by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga; the ‘BNP Paribas Mac 1 Team’, with John and Patrick McEnroe in the United States; and the ‘BNP Paribas Kids Fête le Mur Team’, with Yannick Noah’s Fête le Mur charity organisation.
- Tennis e-sport: ‘Roland-Garros e-Series by BNP Paribas’, an e-sport tournament played all over the world as part of the ‘Tennis World Tour’ video game.
Having entered into all these partnerships, BNP Paribas set up in 2011 a programme called We Are Tennis, whose purpose is to promote interest in the game of tennis all over the world. The wearetennis.com website and its social network accounts bring together a community of tennis lovers and dedicated fans from all continents who are keen to obtain the latest news from the ATP, WTA and ITF circuits. Furthermore, in 2015 BNP Paribas created the We Are Tennis Fan Academy, which enables fans to express their passion for tennis as never before. BNP Paribas also supports local tennis through crowdfunding campaigns designed to finance projects.
In addition, the Group initiated in 2015 a charity programme called ‘Aces of the Heart’, whose aim is to help improve the reception facilities and daily lives of children who are in-patients at paediatric hospitals. The programme also arranges for the hospitalised children to watch tennis tournaments sponsored by BNP Paribas.
BNP Paribas is a leading bank in the Eurozone and a prominent international banking institution. It has a presence in 65 countries, with more than 190,000 employees. The Group has key positions in its three main activities: Domestic Markets, International Financial Services and Corporate & Institutional Banking. The Group helps all its clients to realise their projects through solutions spanning financing, investment, savings and protection insurance. In its Corporate & Institutional Banking and International Financial Services activities, BNP Paribas also enjoys top positions in Europe, a strong presence in the Americas, as well as a solid and fast-growing business in Asia-Pacific.
BNP Paribas has been operating in the MEA region for over 45 years, where it is active in the fields of Corporate & Institutional Banking and International Financial Services. The Bank has a presence in five of the Gulf countries: Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The BNP Paribas Group in South Africa is represented by a full commercial branch in Johannesburg and BNP Paribas Personal Finance Ltd. (RCS) a consumer finance company based in Cape Town. BNP Paribas is also present in Morocco through the BNP Paribas Regional Investment Company (BRIC), which acts as a hub for wider Africa.
About RCS
Founded in 1999, RCS is a leading consumer finance company that serves more than 2.5 million customers across South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. Having become a wholly-owned subsidiary of global bank BNP Paribas in 2015, the RCS group employs over 2000 people and offers a range of credit and personal finance products including Cards, Loans, Insurance and Car Finance.
Today, RCS is the largest provider of white label consumer finance products in South Africa, powering credit solutions for over 30 of South Africa’s largest retailers. Committed to uplifting the communities in which it operates, RCS – as part of its CSR initiatives and in partnership with TSIBA Ignition Academy – supports local start-ups through Level Up, an enterprise and supplier initiative. The initiative empowers local starts-ups to grow their businesses through various innovation and mentorship programmes.