Nadia Comaneci and Miguel Indurain welcome youngsters as Mutua Madrid Open teams up with Laureus
Madrid, May 11, 2012
The Laureus Foundation Spain has once again partnered with the country’s top tennis tournament, the Mutua Madrid Open, as official charity partner.
The two organisations have come together to support the Pasa la Red project in Madrid. Working with children and teenagers, the project’s goal is to promote the social integration of these at-risk young people through tennis. This partnership will allow for the ongoing development of the project.
Laureus World Sports Academy Members Nadia Comaneci and Miguel Induráin met 50 of the youngsters from the project at the Mutua Madrid Open and took part in tennis activites on one of the courts being used by the worlds greatest players in the Caja Mágica tennis centre.
This is the second year that Masters 1000 ATP event the Madrid Open and the Laureus Foundation Spain have come together to promote the use of sport as a tool for social change.
Speaking about this ongoing success, Gabriel Masfurroll, Chairman of the Laureus Foundation Spain said: ”It is a great honour for us to participate in a sport event with the importance of the Mutua Madrid Open. This is a great opportunity to promote the Laureus Foundation’s work and its projects.”
And celebrated former Grand Slam winner Manolo Santana, Director of Mutua Madrid Open, added: “For us it is one step further toward integrating the Mutua Madrid Open into society more broadly. I think that a sport event with the dimension of ours should have a project [like Pasa la Red] to present. Integration through sports is the very least we can give back to a society that see sports and sportspeople as an example to young people.”
Laureus Chairman Edwin Moses, who visited the championship earlier in the week, said: “I was lucky enough to attend the Mutua Madrid Open and I was very impressed by the way the event has grown into one of the most significant tennis tournaments in the world. Laureus is proud to be a partner and I would especially like to congratulate and thank Ion Tiriac, who has made this great tournament what it is today and been instrumental in forging the partnership between the Mutua Madrid Open and the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.”
Pasa la Red aims to provide development opportunities for teenagers who live in less advantaged areas of Madrid, offering social and educational activities throughout sports. These are done in order to tackle school failure and social disintegration.
