Florimont and the Gonet Geneva Open
Institut Florimont has been a partner of The Gonet Geneva Open for four years. The school is delighted to welcome this iconic tennis tournament back and enjoy top-tier tennis. We find out more about the contest, the school, and the partnership in this interview with Laura de Pontbriand, communications manager at Institut Florimont.
What is the history of the Geneva Open, and what is its significance in local Swiss history?
2015 saw the first Geneva Open tournament, Sturdza Geneva Open, and since 2021 the Gonet Geneva Open.
It is one of the ATP 250 tournaments. The tournament takes place at the Tennis Club de Genève, the oldest and largest tennis club in Switzerland, situated in the Parc des Eaux-Vives.
Switzerland has a long history of producing great tennis champions, so it is only natural to have a tournament based in Geneva. Florimont began its collaboration and partnership with the tournament in 2018.
Tell us about the brand alignment between Institut Florimont and the Geneva Open? What is its relationship to the tournament?
Founded in 1905 in Geneva, Florimont offers a comprehensive educational program, including a full range of sporting activities. Our new “sport études” section provides a specially adapted learning programme for the sporting elite, allowing them to combine their educational studies with an intensive training programme, competitions and participation at events.
This partnership is a great match. Both institutions share a passion for sports and adhere to the same values: a belief in perseverance, hard work and striving to attain your full potential and your best personal performance. It is also a great opportunity for us to reinforce our support for ‘la vie de la Cité’. Having been present for the past 115 years, Florimont is part of the Geneva city landscape, and we are totally committed to creating partnerships to support and participate in local sporting and cultural events.
The tournament is a great opportunity for the Florimont community to gather around a nationally recognised event. This year, due to the Covid restrictions, there were a limited number of tickets available for our school community, so we decided to offer them through a giant raffle. There were more than 500 participants!
What does the partnership involve?
We see this collaboration as a win-win. It is not only about monetary incentives or offering tickets, far from that. It is about being able to gather the whole school community around an amazing project.
This year has been challenging due to Covid restrictions. Still, each year a group of students work closely with the organisers and learn about events organization. The tournament organisers are fully committed to making this a valuable educational experience through lectures, conferences… Our students also benefit from masterclasses with renowned tennis champions such as Marc Rosset in the lead up to the tournament.
Do you have any goals other than to support Swiss Tennis?
Yes, this is an excellent time as a school to gather our whole community around a single sporty and festive event. It also provides us with a perfect opportunity to talk about our approach to sports and our new ‘sport études’ section with prospective students.
Can the tournament organisers provide a quote about the partnership with Institut Florimont?
Thierry Grin, tournament director: “We are thrilled to have forged such a partnership with the Institut Florimont, which places so much importance on sports. We regret that the restrictions in place have not allowed us to involve the students in our tournament this year as much as we would have liked. But we are confident that it is only a matter of time until we can resume all the educational activities related to this partnership very soon.”
What does Sean Power say personally about Florimont’s association with the tournament?
“We are exceptionally proud to be a partner in this quality event. It is an excellent collaboration; we have worked with the organisers to develop a range of projects for students of all ages.”
Tell us about Institut Florimont’s commitment to sports.
Institut Florimont has been committed to sports back since 1905 when it was already famous for its football team!
Mens sana in corpore sano… we deeply believe that a healthy body and a healthy mind go hand in hand. We, therefore, encourage our students to develop a sporting culture and motivate them to practice sport and physical activities daily through classes or extra-curricular activities. It is central to ensuring our students’ mental and physical wellbeing. This is why we offer a wide range of activities, and our students take part in numerous competitions and events throughout the year.
We also have a renowned fencing club with state of the art facilities in our sports complex.
In 2022, we are launching a new sports studies section for students who are involved in sport at a high level. This new ‘sport études’ section will take into account the needs for specific schedules between standard school time allocation and training and competitions in the chosen disciplines. Our students will have the support of tutors who specialize in sports studies.
Do you have other partnerships?
Yes, we are proud to support other local sports events and organisations. Florimont is very much a local school and we are committed to supporting the local community and participating in local events. Then, we also support the Bol d’Or Regatta, the Escalade race, and we are the official partner of the Pôle Grenat (Geneve Servette Hockey-Club and Servette Football Club).
About Institut Florimont
Since 1905, Institut Florimont has been preparing young people to find their place in the world. Founded by the Congregation of Catholic Missionaries of Saint Francois de Sales, Institut Florimont is under secular management since 1995. Today, it remains a private K-12 day school, co-educational, catholic, but open to all religions for 1,550 children.
