BNP Paribas RCS Rising Star Tennis Initiative has once again excelled
Rising Star Tennis champions crowned
Tennis Bringing a close to the second edition of the nationwide campaign, the winners were crowned over the weekend in the BNP Paribas RCS Rising Star Tennis series.
The programme, which expanded this year to include primary schools, high schools, and a wheelchair tennis category, began with more then 3 000 young players showcasing their talent in 30 district tournaments around the country.
A total of 55 teams ultimately progressed to the BNP Paribas RCS Rising Star Tennis National Finals, competing for top honours at Arthur Ashe Centre in Soweto and Groenkloof Club in Pretoria between Friday, 22 October and Sunday, 24 October.
In the high school division, St. Stithians College won the boys' competition and Oranje Meisies emerged triumphant in the girls' contest.
Among the younger primary school players, Grey College successfully defended their title coming out on top in the boys' tournament and St Peter’s Prep lifted the girls' title.
In the first season of an exciting wheelchair tennis competition, Adelaide Tambo School dominated the tournament, winning both the boys' and girls’ titles.
In its second season, aside from expanding to include more players, BNP Paribas RCS Rising Star Tennis made some significant progress in its attempt to grow tennis through grassroots development.
A new phase-feeder programme was introduced, along with virtual masterclasses for players, and the participants had opportunities to interact with BNP Paribas RCS Rising Star Tennis ambassadors Kevin Anderson, Kgothatso Montjane and Kholo Montsi.
In addition, tennis activations were held in Atteridgeville, Gqeberha and Polokwane.
At the National Finals, programme ambassadors Montjane and Montsi also conducted coaching clinics to impart their skills on the nation's future stars.
As proud sponsors of the BNP Paribas, RCS Rising Star Tennis Initiative, senior management including Kieran Fahy, Head of Territory, BNP Paribas South Africa and Regan Adams, CEO, RCS were in attendance at the Finals, and awarded trophies to the winning players.
Speaking at the event, Kieran Fahy, Head of Territory, BNP Paribas South Africa said: “The BNP Paribas RCS Rising Star Tennis Initiative has once again excelled thanks to the hard work and dedication of Tennis South Africa. This programme is catapulting grassroots tennis into the spotlight, and opening up the sport to the next generation of player, creating a new sporting legacy in the country. It’s with great pride that we are involved in this initiative in South Africa. BNP Paribas is well known as the number one partner to tennis worldwide, and our global commitment goes as far back as 1973. We look forward to continuing this commitment in South Africa. A big congratulations to all the players today.”
Regan Adams, CEO RCS, also commented: “At RCS we firmly believe that empowerment through sport is one of the most powerful forms of upliftment. Rising Star is a true testament of this mission. We are excited to continue our journey with Tennis SA in growing the Rising Star programme and to make a meaningful impact in the lives of the many talented youths, especially those in vulnerable communities, enabling their development and creating opportunities for them to compete. Ultimately, we want to see community facilities upgraded for the sport to grow across South Africa.”
The programme, which expanded this year to include primary schools, high schools, and a wheelchair tennis category, began with more then 3 000 young players showcasing their talent in 30 district tournaments around the country.
A total of 55 teams ultimately progressed to the BNP Paribas RCS Rising Star Tennis National Finals, competing for top honours at Arthur Ashe Centre in Soweto and Groenkloof Club in Pretoria between Friday, 22 October and Sunday, 24 October.
In the high school division, St. Stithians College won the boys' competition and Oranje Meisies emerged triumphant in the girls' contest.
Among the younger primary school players, Grey College successfully defended their title coming out on top in the boys' tournament and St Peter’s Prep lifted the girls' title.
In the first season of an exciting wheelchair tennis competition, Adelaide Tambo School dominated the tournament, winning both the boys' and girls’ titles.
In its second season, aside from expanding to include more players, BNP Paribas RCS Rising Star Tennis made some significant progress in its attempt to grow tennis through grassroots development.
A new phase-feeder programme was introduced, along with virtual masterclasses for players, and the participants had opportunities to interact with BNP Paribas RCS Rising Star Tennis ambassadors Kevin Anderson, Kgothatso Montjane and Kholo Montsi.
In addition, tennis activations were held in Atteridgeville, Gqeberha and Polokwane.
At the National Finals, programme ambassadors Montjane and Montsi also conducted coaching clinics to impart their skills on the nation's future stars.
As proud sponsors of the BNP Paribas, RCS Rising Star Tennis Initiative, senior management including Kieran Fahy, Head of Territory, BNP Paribas South Africa and Regan Adams, CEO, RCS were in attendance at the Finals, and awarded trophies to the winning players.
Speaking at the event, Kieran Fahy, Head of Territory, BNP Paribas South Africa said: “The BNP Paribas RCS Rising Star Tennis Initiative has once again excelled thanks to the hard work and dedication of Tennis South Africa. This programme is catapulting grassroots tennis into the spotlight, and opening up the sport to the next generation of player, creating a new sporting legacy in the country. It’s with great pride that we are involved in this initiative in South Africa. BNP Paribas is well known as the number one partner to tennis worldwide, and our global commitment goes as far back as 1973. We look forward to continuing this commitment in South Africa. A big congratulations to all the players today.”
Regan Adams, CEO RCS, also commented: “At RCS we firmly believe that empowerment through sport is one of the most powerful forms of upliftment. Rising Star is a true testament of this mission. We are excited to continue our journey with Tennis SA in growing the Rising Star programme and to make a meaningful impact in the lives of the many talented youths, especially those in vulnerable communities, enabling their development and creating opportunities for them to compete. Ultimately, we want to see community facilities upgraded for the sport to grow across South Africa.”
Final Standings
Primary School
Boys
- Grey College
- Stirling Primary
- Durban Prep
Girls
- St Peter’s Prep
- Eversdal Primary
- C & N Primêre Meisieskool Oranje
High School
Boys
- St Stithians High
- Paul Roos Gimnasium
- Grey College
Girls
- Oranje Meisies
- Curro Hillcrest
- St Mary’s Waverly
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.
About RCS
RCS is a subsidiary of BNP Paribas Personal Finance South Africa, part of the BNP Paribas Group. The innovative consumer finance provider offers customers a wide range of financial services products under its own brand name and in association with a number of leading retailers in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. RCS offers a portfolio of consumer finance products, which extends across store card, credit card, loans, insurance and vehicle finance products.
Currently employing close to 2 000 people, the core purpose of RCS is to make things possible, by enhancing people's lifestyles and protecting their financial security through innovative, desirable and accessible credit solutions. The idea is to enable RCS customers to enjoy the convenience, comfort and peace of mind offered by these credit solutions.
