Stellarton, NS (May 4, 2022) – Sobeys and Tennis Canada today announce another exciting milestone in their national partnership, unveiling the Sobeys Atlantic Tennis Centre. The Sobeys Atlantic Tennis Centre is a new one-of-a-kind facility in Canada, open to the public year-round, making the sport more accessible by expanding access, programming and awareness of the ‘sport for a lifetime’. As the official naming partner of the facility, Sobeys will partner with TennisCanada in this new multi-term agreement to provide free tennis clinics for youth in surrounding communities.
“Sobeys has always been at the heart of every community we serve. This partnership with Tennis Canada will help us reach our families in new ways, celebrating the powerful connection between family, food and sport,” said Dave Sobey, vice president of operations for Sobeys in Atlantic Canada. “Particularly here in Atlantic Canada, we are seeing a growing diversity in the sport where people and families are discovering tennis as a way to connect while staying active. It’s what we celebrate as a brand each day.”
Partnering with local community groups, a series of tennis clinics will be hosted and will create the capacity for local children, aged eight to 12, to receive free lessons, tips and insights from well-known players and coaches. Participants in the clinics will receive tennis gear including racquets and balls to help them get started in the sport as part of their Sobeys-sponsored starter package. The goal of these clinics is to ensure the ‘sport for a lifetime’ can be enjoyed by players of all ages, including wheelchair competitors, seniors and the rapidly growing category of young girls who are inspired by Canadian stars like Leylah Annie Fernandez and Rebecca Marino.
“We are thrilled to continue this partnership with Sobeys as part of the Tennis Canada family,” said Jack Graham, founder of the Sobeys Atlantic Tennis Centre and a member of the board of directors of the International Tennis Federation. “Sobeys shares our values and commitment to making tennis more accessible for families across Canada. Their support will help us accomplish the mission that we established for our facilities in both Toronto and Halifax, which is to give children access to quality facilities and encourage more and more young people to pick up a racquet and play.”
“We are excited about the expanding partnership we have with Sobeys and knowing that the Atlantic Tennis Centre will benefit from Sobeys’ support,” said Michael Downey, Tennis Canada’s President and CEO. “The Sobeys Atlantic TennisCentre (SATC) is an important part of Tennis Canada’s and Tennis Nova Scotia’s mission to lead the growth of tennis in Canada and Nova Scotia, respectively. With Sobeys’ support Tennis Nova Scotia now has additional resources tomaximize the use the SATC as a vibrant hub for all things tennis, including more access.”Sobeys is among the largest supporters of sport in Canada. The support of Sobeys Atlantic Tennis Centre is in addition to their partnership in Montreal with STADE IGA announced in 2018, and in Toronto with Sobeys Stadium announced last week.
ABOUT EMPIRE
Empire Company Limited (TSX: EMP.A) is a Canadian company headquartered in Stellarton Nova Scotia. Empire’s key businesses are food retailing, through wholly-owned subsidiary Sobeys Inc., and related real estate. With approximately $29.2 billion in annual sales and $16.4 billion in assets, Empire and its subsidiaries, franchisees and affiliates employ approximately 134,000 people.
ABOUT TENNIS CANADA
Founded in 1890, Tennis Canada is a non-profit, national sport association with a mission to lead the growth of tennis in Canada and a vision to become a world-leading tennis nation. We value teamwork, passion, integrity, innovation and excellence. Tennis Canada owns and operates the premier National Bank Open presented by Rogers WTA and ATP Tour events, four professional ATP and ITF sanctioned events and financially supports four other professional tournaments in Canada. Tennis Canada operates junior national training centres/programs in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary. Tennis Canada is a proud member of the International Tennis Federation, the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Canadian Paralympic Committee, and serves to administer, sponsor and select the teams for Davis Cup, Billie Jean King Cup, the Olympic and Paralympic Games and all wheelchair, junior and senior national teams. Tennis Canada invests its surplus into tennis development. For more information on Tennis Canada please visit our Web site at: tenniscanada.com and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
