Growthpoint Properties has expanded its support of tennis in the country by becoming the official headline partner of seniors (veterans) tennis.
Growthpoint was unveiled as the headline sponsor of Tennis South Africa in July 2017 with the objective of growing the foundations of the sport in South Africa – especially at grassroots level. This sponsorship initially covered junior tournaments, clubs and the transformation and development space. It has now been extended to cover naming rights to four key local seniors tournaments:
- The SA Nationals ITF Seniors Tournament that gets underway this Saturday in Bloemfontein.
- The Seniors Inter-Provincial Tournament for the 50 to 60+ age group – taking place in Boland in April.
- The Super Seniors Inter-Provincial Tournament for the 65 to 75+ age group – taking place in Johannesburg in May.
- The Young Seniors Inter-Provincial Tournament for the 30 to 45+ age group – taking place in Cape Town in October.
Seniors tennis is for amateur players aged 30 and above and is a vibrant part of the local tennis landscape.
Richard Glover, CEO of Tennis South Africa, said: “Growthpoint’s generous support is starting to have a meaningful impact on our game. Their investment has seen us launch a junior national squad programme, host a very successful Top Guns national club event and commence the roll-out of development centres in key provinces. Extending their involvement into seniors tennis – which is a key component of grassroots tennis in the country - is a natural next step in the evolution of our partnership.”
Nadine Kuzmanich, Head of Marketing at Growthpoint, described the sponsorship of senior tennis as the final building block in a strong foundation for the growth of the sport in South Africa.
Kuzmanich said: “Growthpoint’s support of tennis juniors, clubs, development centres, and now seniors, creates an exciting base to build and grow the sport and communities, across all generations in South Africa. Our intention is to make a lasting difference to the sport of tennis in the country by creating new opportunities for children and adults from all backgrounds to learn, compete and excel. Growthpoint’s business philosophy is ‘creating space to thrive’, and by being the headline sponsor of Tennis South Africa we can have a positive impact on the sport. Now, by extending our sponsorship of tennis at a grassroots level to include seniors, we believe we can make even more of a difference.”
Growthpoint’s move to sponsor seniors tennis also aligns with its target market. A recent study by the ITF (International Tennis Federation) shows that tennis players in South Africa tend to be key business decision makers - 60% of tennis players in the country work in managerial and professional occupations and 28.5% work in upper managerial positions.
Bertie Conradie, the Chairperson of seniors tennis in South Africa expressed his delight at the news: “We would like to welcome Growthpoint to our seniors tennis family and thank them for their investment. We look forward to working with them to help grow seniors tennis across all communities in South Africa.”
About Growthpoint Properties:
Growthpoint is the largest South African primary listed REIT. It creates value for its stakeholders with innovative and sustainable property solutions that provide space to thrive. Growthpoint is a FTSE/JSE Top 40 Index company, a Top 10 constituent of the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Emerging Index, a constituent of the FTSE4Good Emerging Index and has been included in the FTSE/JSE Responsible Investment Index for eight years running. It owns and manages a diversified portfolio of 559 property assets including 463 properties across South Africa valued at R80.1bn and Growthpoint’s 50% interest in the properties at V&A Waterfront, Cape Town, valued at R8.7bn. Growthpoint owns 56 properties in Australia valued at R31.2bn through its investment in ASX-listed Growthpoint Properties Australia (GOZ) and 39 properties in Romania and Poland, 100% valued at EUR1.8bn through its investment in LSE AIM-listed Globalworth Investments (GWI).