Calgary National Bank Challenger Announces Historic Investment in 2023 Women’s Event

Returning to Calgary November 5-12, 2023, The Challenger is Canada’s first W60 event to offer female players paid hospitality

CALGARY, Alberta, Sept. 07, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today the Calgary National Bank Challenger (The Challenger or The Tournament), held at the Osten & Victor Alberta Tennis Centre (ATC) announced a historic investment in this year’s women’s event. This will be the first International Tennis Federation W60 event taking place in Canada to offer paid hospitality to its female players. This investment will improve the pay-equity gap between female and male players in the sport.This investment came from a grant from the Province of Alberta’s Major Cultural Sport Event (MCSE) grant program. The funds from the grant will go directly to support hotel costs for our male and female competitors and other initiatives to enhance the overall experience of the event. The Board of the ATC had also agreed to invest an additional $50,000 to improve equity and access for our female competitors. As well, with the support of title partner National Bank of Canada, Tennis Canada will be collaborating to provide unique opportunities for women and girls in tennis through the Game. Set. Equity. initiative.

"This is fantastic news not only for The Challenger but for tennis in Canada," says Gavin Ziv, Chief Tournaments Officer at Tennis Canada. "Being able to make these upgrades to our existing women's events, such as adding hospitality for players, is creating better opportunities and fair treatment for female players. As we announced in March, in collaboration with our great partners at National Bank, advancing gender equity at all levels of tennis in our country is our objective and is a responsibility we've taken to heart."

The first women’s edition of The Challenger took place in 2022. With the addition of the women’s event, The Tournament became Canada’s largest ever indoor combined tennis event. Last year’s event was a smashing success with over 10,750 spectators taking in the action. The event generated $3.2 million dollars to the local and provincial economy and was a 2022 finalist for the Canadian Sport Tourism Prestige Awards which recognizes Canada’s best national and international events.

“For several years, the ATC has invested heavily into improving diversity, equity, and access to the sport. From hiring and developing female coaches, players, and team members, to offering programming targeted towards women, new immigrants, children and supporting Calgary’s underserved community, the ATC has been at the forefront of improving Diversity, Equity and Access in Tennis across Canada," says Danny Da Costa, Tournament Director, Calgary National Bank Challenger and CEO of the ATC. "Today, female participation makes up nearly 60 per cent of all players in our facility, and the Centre has launched the popular SHE CAN PLAY Girls Tennis & Leadership Program, so this was an excellent opportunity to continue to commit more funding and support for women and girls tennis initiatives. We want to set the standard for other events in Canada to offer paid hospitality for female athletes and move towards equal prize money for their events in the future,” says Da Costa.

The Challenger organizers are also thrilled to announce several new and returning initiatives taking place at this year’s event, that includes:

· The Calgary National Bank Challenger Mall Promotion returning from October 23 – November 1, 2023 between 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. daily at the CORE Shopping Centre. This free event, provides Calgarians the opportunity to try out their tennis skills, play with the pros and win free tickets to this year’s event. This year's player announcement will take place onsite on October 23 beginning at 10:45 a.m. MT.
· Calgary National Bank Challenger Community Day coming back on November 4, 2023 and will have free admission to the tournament along with complimentary clinics for adults and children.
· The Calgary National Bank Challenger partnership with Tennis Canada and National Bank to deliver Game Set Equity events that will take place on November 10^tand 11, 2023. More details will be provided closer to the event.Finally, Canadian tennis star Daniel Nestor will return to The Challenger as the Tournament Ambassador. Nestor, holder of 91 career titles, is a 12x Grand Slam Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist. Nestor will team up with Canadian tennis pro and published author, Uros Budimac to offer doubles clinics on November 11 and 12. For more information on the clinics, visit www.albertatenniscentre.ca or call 1-587-393-1600 to register.

Tickets for The Challenger are available to purchase for as little as $20.00/day. For more information about the event or to purchase tickets, visit www.calgary.nationalbankchallenger.com.

For more information about the ATC, please visit http://www.albertatenniscentre.ca/.

*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. The sports federation values 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 website at: www.tenniscanada.com and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

*About Osten & Victor Alberta Tennis Centre *
Founded in 2013 and opened in 2016, the Osten & Victor Alberta Tennis Centre is a staple of the Acadia and Calgary community. Recognized as one of Canada’s premier tennis facilities, the Centre was championed by local funders with the support of Tennis Canada. The 13-court, state-of-the-art, family friendly tennis facility is in the heart of Acadia (SE Calgary) and covers over 4.22 acres. The non-profit Centre has quickly established itself as the benchmark for facility design and operation in Canada. The Centre has serviced over 200,000 Albertans since opening its opening and is built to international competition standards. It is a highly sought-after tournament destination and hosts multiple international events each year, including the Calgary National Bank Challenger ATP event.

For more information visit www.albertatenniscentre.ca.

*Media Contacts*
Rebecca Hurl
Brookline Public Relations, Inc.
rhurl@brooklinepr.com
403-818-6918