Milos Raonic Becomes Canada’s Ambassador for Kids’ Tennis

Following in the footsteps of the USTA and their progressive tennis program endorsed by First Lady Michelle Obama, Tennis Canada has launched a new campaign to promote the active, healthy living of children through the sport of tennis. World no. 26 Milos Raonic will be the ambassador for Kids’ Tennis, a scaled-down version of the sport that ensures earlier success for children by using modified racquets, balls and nets.
Kids’ Tennis is a way to attract young children to the game and allow them to improve their tennis skills quicker which makes for a more fun and successful transition to a regular court.
“Getting more kids playing the sport of tennis in Canada is extremely important to me,” said Raonic. “I hope that my recent success and results on the ATP World Tour will help to inspire more people to pick up a racquet. But they also need to know there are now easier ways for their children to learn the sport with this smaller equipment that is tailored to suit their abilities. That’s what I’m hoping these public service announcements will accomplish.”
The campaign will roll out in the form of two public service announcements with supporting print elements aimed at raising awareness and encouraging participation. Raonic made himself available for both the TV and print creative development which was shot over a full day at the Hollyburn Country Club in Vancouver early during the week of Davis Cup in February.

Developed by Toronto ad agency Bensimon Byrne, the two public service announcements take a humorous approach using role reversal where Raonic, the 6’5” ATP World Tour star, has difficultly playing Kids’ Tennis against a young girl. The spots began airing in Canada this past weekend during the final of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami and will run continuously on several stations throughout the summer.. To date, the PSAs have been very well received, getting over 2,700 views on YouTube since last Thursday.  Watch the first PSA below. The second one will be posted this week.