FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 10, 2021

OSTEN & VICTOR Alberta Tennis Centre to launch SHE CAN PLAY Girls Tennis & Leadership Program this fall

CALGARY (AB) – The OSTEN & VICTOR Alberta Tennis Centre (ATC) announced today that it is launching an all-girls tennis and leadership program to increase female participation in tennis across Alberta. SHE CAN PLAY Girls Tennis & Leadership Program will be delivered by an entirely female-led coaching staff, beginning this fall.

The SHE CAN PLAY Tennis & Leadership Program has been launched to increase female participation and retention in the sport of tennis. As part of the program, the ATC will also support the development of female coaches through the creation of the Centre’s Female Coach Mentorship Program. As well, the ATC will continue to create a positive social environment that fosters a sense of belonging for female players and coaches, while establishing a larger and healthier pipeline of participants, coaches, skilled leaders, and volunteers. SHE CAN PLAY will become the first all-girls tennis program in Alberta and one of the few across Canada.

“This is an important initiative created by our Centre to encourage girls’ participation, and to get involved in a wonderful physically and mentally character-building sport. We encourage parents to enroll their girls in this program. Our organization is committed to building our sport with a greater involvement of the female population”, said Ron Ghitter, Chair of the Board of Directors of the OSTEN & VICTOR Alberta Tennis Centre. Ghitter, who helped establish the OSTEN & VICTOR Alberta Tennis Centre is a former provincial MLA and Canadian Senator. Ghitter was awarded the Order of Canada in 2018, for his work in human-rights and various social issues.

The OSTEN & VICTOR Alberta Tennis Centre, a non-profit community-based tennis facility, located in Calgary opened in the spring of 2016. Since that time, the Centre has become one of Canada’s premier year-round tennis facilities. In 2017, the Centre was bestowed Tennis Canada’s facility excellence award as Canada’s best year-round facility. Since 2016, the Centre has provided instruction to 50,000 Calgarians through its school tennis program and provides instruction and services to 30,000 Albertans each year. The ATC is also home to the Calgary National Bank Challenger which is Canada’s largest indoor Men’s Professional Tennis Tournament. The Calgary National Bank Challenger has quickly become one of the best ATP Challenger events in the world and has attracted some of the best men’s tennis players in the world including Canadian Tennis Star Vasek Pospisil and former and current Top 20 players, Ivo Karlovic, Tommy Robredo and Casper Ruud.

“We recognize the importance of creating a more diverse and inclusive learning environment for people of all ages and abilities to play and enjoy the sport of tennis.”, said Danny Da Costa, CEO of the OSTEN & VICTOR Alberta Tennis Centre. “Our organization has fully embraced diversity, inclusion and equity within our organization, therefore, it is only natural that we launch SHE CAN PLAY Girls Tennis & Leadership Program to help support and improve female participation in tennis.”, said Da Costa.

Since opening its doors in 2016, the ATC has become a leader in facility design, operation, and tennis development across Canada. The ATC offers programming for all ages and abilities including wheelchair tennis, autism tennis programs, indigenous youth tennis, school tennis and community outreach programs. In addition, the ATC launched the Friends of Ron Ghitter Tennis Fund for Kids which provides financial support to children to pursue the game of tennis. SHE CAN PLAY Girls Tennis & Leadership Program will be the first program the Fund will support.

A recent study, conducted by Canadian Women & Sport in partnership with Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities, found that one in every three girls drop out of sport during adolescence compared to only one in 10 boys, and as many as 62% of Canadian girls do not participate in sport of any kind.

“This is a fantastic initiative from The OSTEN & VICTOR Alberta Tennis Centre,” commented Jennifer Bishop, Chair of the Board for Tennis Canada. “The SHE CAN PLAY Girls Tennis & Leadership Program is a prime example of how we can keep young women and girls in the sport. The program aligns so well with the long-term gender equality strategy Tennis Canada launched in partnership with National Bank earlier this year which aims to increase participation in our sport at all levels among young women and girls. We are sure The OSTEN & VICTOR Alberta Tennis Centre will make this program a tremendous success and hope to see other tennis clubs, Centres and facilitators follow their lead.”

The ATC has taken steps to improve diversity and inclusion within its organization. In 2021, the ATC launched a Demographic and Accessibility Report, reporting that nearly 60% of its employees and program participants were female. Additionally, women make up 44% of its management team. “There is work to be done to improve female representation across sport. We are fortunate that females make up nearly 60% of all our players in our junior development and high-performance programs, and our SHE CAN PLAY program is an important step in addressing diversity, inclusion and equity within our organization.”, said Da Costa.

Beginning this fall, the ATC will launch 4 one-day camps. Each camp will include tennis, nutrition, yoga, fitness, and leadership development. Each camp will be led by ATC female coaches and will include female guest coaches and speakers in the business and sport community. The ATC also has plans to launch an all-girls tennis league sometime in 2022.

For more information on SHE CAN PLAY or to register visit www.albertatennisCentre.ca or by telephone (587) 393 1600.

For more information contact:

Danny Da Costa
Chief Executive Officer
Tel: (587) 393 1604
Mobile: (403) 472 2223

Email: ddacosta@albertatennisCentre.ca
Web: www.albertatennisCentre.ca
Instagram: @albertatennisCentre
Instagram: @shecanplay10s