- In May 2018, BNP Paribas launched the ‘BNP Paribas Young Talent Team’ initiative, mentored by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and in association with the French Tennis Federation, to give the most deserving and promising young talent the best possible chance of reaching the highest levels of the sport.
- This support for the younger generations in tennis is taking on a new international dimension in 2019 with the launch of a team of young US players, the ‘BNP Paribas Mac 1 Team’, who will be coached in New York by John and Patrick McEnroe.
- BNP Paribas is also setting up a team of young talent within Yannick Noah’s charity organization ‘Fête le Mur’ for younger players.
- Through these 3 initiatives, BNP Paribas will support the training of 50 young tennis hopefuls in 2019.
Both in France and the United States, young tennis talent face the double challenge of finding first-rate training facilities and meeting their cost, which – if they are to attain the highest level – will add up to tens of thousands of euros. In linking up with a number of players involved in the tennis practice and training of future champions, BNP Paribas once again confirms its will to help building the tennis of tomorrow.
- ‘BNP Paribas Mac 1 Team’: a team of young US players boosted by the McEnroe brothers
Since 2010, the ‘John McEnroe Tennis Academy’ is training young American tennis players. The ‘BNP Paribas Mac 1 Team’ initiative leverages on this training center to boost 10 young players with the ambition of turning today’s underserved and deserving tennis hopefuls into tomorrow’s champions. Details of the ‘BNP Paribas Mac 1 Team’ will be revealed during the Indian Wells tournament’s finals (BNP Paribas Open), on March 17, 2019.
“The aim of ‘BNP Paribas Mac 1’ is to support the training of young tennis players who lack the financial means and/or personal skills to be able to compete at the highest levels,” underlined John and Patrick McEnroe, explaining: “The programme aims to help address the huge challenge of meeting the cost of tennis training in the United States, especially in the greater New York City area.”
- ‘BNP Paribas Kids Fête le Mur Team’: a France-wide search in order to shape a young talent team within Yannick Noah’s charity organization ‘Fête le Mur’
BNP Paribas, which first began partnering with ‘Fête le Mur’ in 2001, is now launching an outreach programme across France, together with Yannick Noah, in order to identify 20 young hopefuls who will be joining the ‘BNP Paribas Kids Fête le Mur Team’. Members will be helped in their tennis practice and personal development, with various activities such as piano and theatre.
Yannick Noah stated: “The purpose of the ‘BNP Paribas Kids Fête le Mur Team’ is to make a real impact in encouraging young people from all French regions to play tennis – going out to discover young talented players in the priority neighbourhoods of cities throughout France, and giving them an opportunity to find out how competition can provide an additional boost in building their future.”
- ‘BNP Paribas Young Talent Team’: new horizons in 2019
Each year this initiative enables 20 young French tennis prospects – the most deserving – to receive both financial and human support in their objective of reaching the highest levels. In September 2018, first 10 team members were able to spend quality time during a week-end with their mentor Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and then met for a training seminar beginning of March 2019, before heading off to the tennis courts, where they obtained some very encouraging results.
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 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas and 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 (Antwerp);
- 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 through partnerships with more than 20 national tennis federations; also working with dozens of tennis-based charities such as Yannick Noah’s charity organization ‘Fête le Mur’;
- Young generations: The ‘BNP Paribas Young Talent Team’ mentored by French player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, in association with the FFT; the ‘BNP Paribas Mac 1’ Team with John and Patrick McEnroe in the US; the ‘BNP Paribas Kids Fête le Mur Team’ within French player Yannick Noah’s charity organization ‘Fête le Mur’.
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’ to assist young hospital in-patients and their families. The programme seeks to improve the daily lives and reception facilities at children’s hospitals and arranges for the children to attend tennis tournaments sponsored by BNP Paribas.
Spokespeople
diana.pluquet [at] bnpparibas (dot) com
Vincent-Baptiste Closon
Head of Sponsoring Tennis
Vincent-Baptiste Closon began his career in 2002 at Wilson Tennis, where has worked in the Product Marketing department. In 2005, he joins Adidas as Head of the Brand Stratgy and Communications for team sports, then as Head of Trade Marketing for the Reebok brand. He is appointed Head of Marketing at the ‘Olympique Lyonnais’ – a French football club based in Lyon – in 2011 and joins the Executive Committee of the group. In this role, he conducts the digital transformation of the club and leads the new stadium project and the related new client experience. Since 2015, Vincent-Baptiste was Head of International Marketing, Business Leader Tennis and member of the Executive Committee at Babolat Tennis. As Head of Sponsoring Tennis at BNP Paribas, his mission is to strengthen the group’s commitment in the development and innovation in the tennis world.
Vincent-Baptiste Closon is a gradute from EDHEC Business School in Lille, France.
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