HEATHER WATSON INSPIRES FUTURE TENNIS STARS AT STATOIL MASTERS TENNIS COACHING CLINIC
Statoil’s Heroes of Tomorrow ambassador Heather Watson will be joined by Tim Henman, Virginia Wade OBE and Sir Trevor McDonald to share stories of their childhood sporting heroes with children of UK leading tennis Charity Give It Your Max. The story telling session will take place as part of a coaching clinic on Thursday morning, 5thDecember at the Royal Albert Hall.
The foursome will be sharing memories of sporting icons from their childhood to highlight Statoil’s Heroes of Tomorrow programme, which gives support to young people in sport, culture and Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM).
Heather said:
"As an ambassador for Statoil's heroes of tomorrow programme I get the opportunity to help kids become involved in the sport I love. I hope I can be a good role model for these children and motivate them to get outside, play tennis and reach for their dreams.
"The work I have been able to do as part of the programme with Give It your Max is amazing. The kids are always so enthusiastic to learn and I hope I can inspire them because they have certainly inspired me."
Norway’s largest international energy company Statoil announced its support to Give It Your Max in June last year as part of its Heroes of Tomorrow sponsorship initiative.
Give It Your Max is one of the UK’s leading grass-roots tennis charities that pays for qualified tennis coaches to introduce and teach tennis to children aged between five and ten years old in the state sector. With the investment from Statoil, GIYM has been able to grow its programme across the UK, including the opening of a dedicated site in Paddington in June, earlier this year.
Former British Men’s Tennis No.1 Tim Henman, Sir Trevor McDonald and Virginia Wade OBE will all join the morning’s clinic as patrons of GIYM.
Tim Henman said:
“My sporting hero drove me to the grass courts of Wimbledon. It’s important to give kids role models like Heather to look up to and prove that with hard work and determination, they too can achieve all their sporting dreams.
“The work Statoil does with Give It Your Max is helping kids in the UK to achieve their potential through tennis and that is so important to this country’s sporting future. “
Heather added:
“The support Statoil gives to Give It Your Max is amazing. The work I’ve done so far with Statoil’s Heroes of Tomorrow programme has been so much fun. The kids involved are so impressive. The generous investment by Statoil into UK tennis and the Give It Your Max programme is so important, we have to make sure that kids who don’t have the means, have a chance to shine in the future. Statoil’s investment is making tennis more accessible and I’m so proud to be part of that.”
Andrew Lloyd, Statoil’s Vice President, Communications, said:
“As a young British woman, Heather’s commitment and achievement sets a very positive example for young people around the country, including in our own neighbourhood – Paddington – where Statoil’s sponsorship of Give It Your Max is helping some of the young children living locally, to access high-quality tennis coaching, to learn new skills, and to have fun.”
Mike Stotesbury, Founder and Trustee of ‘Give It Your Max’ added:
“We are extremely grateful to Statoil for their generous financial support for ‘Give It Your Max’ over the next three years. The opening of Paddington will allow us to introduce more children to tennis at a young age in another deprived part of the capital. Since 2005 ‘Give It Your Max’ has introduced at least 50,000 children between the ages of 5 and 11 to tennis across the UK.”
Watch the Heroes of Tomorrow video featuring Heather Watson, Tim Henman, Virginia Wade OBE and Sir Trevor McDonald here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af6Q42suArg&feature=youtu.be
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- Clinic Date: Thursday, 5th December 2013
- Venue: Royal Albert Hall
- Timings: 9-11am
- Initiative: Statoil’s ‘Heroes of Tomorrow’ supporting young people in sport, culture and education.
To confirm your attendance at the event or for further information please contact Henman Communications: Naomi Mills on M +447795250420/ naomi@henmancom.com
Notes to Editors
About Statoil (UK) Limited
Statoil is an international energy company with operations in 36 countries. Building on 40 years of experience from oil and gas production on the Norwegian continental shelf, we are committed to accommodating the world's energy needs in a responsible manner, applying technology and creating innovative business solutions. Statoil is headquartered in Norway with 21,000 employees worldwide, and is listed on the New York and Oslo stock exchanges. Statoil gives support to talented young people in sport, culture and education, helping them to become the heroes of tomorrow.
Statoil announced two tennis sponsorship initiatives in the UK in 2012, becoming the new title sponsor for the Statoil Masters Tennis, the ATP World Tour's Champions Tennis Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall in London, and also sponsoring leading British player Heather Watson, who is an ambassador in the UK for Statoil’s Heroes of Tomorrow programme.
John Knight, Statoil’s Executive Vice President, Global Strategy and Business Development, said: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to sponsor this very popular tennis tournament. Our company supplies energy to UK homes and work places from many different sources including wind power, natural gas and oil. We are, in fact, one of the most significant importers of natural gas to the UK and we and our partner company Statkraft have recently invested more than £1 billion in the Sheringham Shoal wind power project in Norfolk. Our sponsorship of the Statoil Masters Tennis gives an opportunity for people in the UK to get to know us better and for us to make a broader contribution to UK society.”
John Knight also comments: “By sponsoring ‘Give It Your Max’, Statoil hopes to enable a larger number of young British children in our local community in Paddington to access decent tennis coaching and have the opportunity to discover their talents.”
More information on www.statoil.com
About Heather Watson
Heather Watson is one of the tennis world’s most promising young talents. Watson first asserted her presence on the court by winning the prestigious Jr. U.S. Open in dominant fashion in 2009. She became the first British female junior in history to win in New York and just the second British player to claim the junior title. Watson has since set her focus on climbing in the WTA Tour professional ranks and in just her second full year on the WTA Tour (2011), she became the youngest player in the top 100, the second highest ranked British female and just one of three teens to finish the year ranked inside the top 100
Through the “Heroes of Tomorrow” initiative, Statoil supports talented young people in sport, culture and education. The support of Watson and the development of Heroes of Tomorrow will form part of a wider venture into sports sponsorship for Statoil in the UK.
John Knight, Statoil’s Executive Vice President, Global Strategy and Business Development, said “Statoil are proud to sponsor a talented young sportswoman like Heather who is just at the beginning of an exciting career. We hope that our support can play a small part in her future success and that other youngsters will be inspired by her hard work and commitment.”
Give It Your Max?
‘Give it your Max’ is a Registered Charity founded in memory of Max Stotesbury. He was 18 when he died in a motoring accident in 2004. He was a good tennis player and during the holidays assisted Dan Bloxham, head coach at the Wimbledon Junior Tennis Initiative. This initiative has been a great success in introducing tennis to young children in the London boroughs of Wandsworth and Merton. To start up similar initiatives around the country was thought to be a fitting tribute to Max.
GIYM pays for qualified tennis coaches to introduce and teach tennis to children aged between five and ten years old in the state sector. The tennis is delivered during PE periods in Primary Schools in addition to evening, weekend and holiday tennis clinics. GIYM also organizes tournaments and provides programmes for the better and keener children to join tennis clubs to further their prospects. It also supplies schools with equipment such as kit bags (comprising a mini tennis net, tennis balls and rackets for use as part of schools or after-school activities).
Successful programmes are now established in Reading, Canterbury and Orpington in Kent, Edgbaston, Birmingham, Greater London, Peckham and Merton, Paddington and Aberdeen.
The charity’s Patrons are Tim Henman OBE, Sir Trevor McDonald OBE and Virginia Wade OBE.
For further information please visit - http://www.giveityourmax.org
Like GIYM on Facebook at - https://www.facebook.com/giveityourmax
Follow GIYM on Twitter at - https://twitter.com/giveityourmax