For many of the perhaps more casual tennis watchers, Judy Murray is the courtside supportive mother of her sons Jamie and Andy Murray since they both started to work their way up the tennis rankings in their respective disciplines. This year Jamie and Andy have the distinction of being the first brothers since the McEnroes brothers in 1989 to appear at the season ending finals.
But few realised at the time just how tireless her drive was to introduce kids to tennis, and more importantly to improve tennis in the United Kingdom overall. Raised in Scotland, where there were no indoor courts (if you’ve been to Scotland, you would know why this would be an issue!), she won 64 titles in Scotland as a junior and senior before making the big step of turning professional.
But the transition is not an easy one and she decided to head to university, and represented Great Britain in the 1981 World Student Games, it was non-sporting pursuits that occupied her studies, and began coaching tennis including those two little lads we mentioned earlier.
Tales of sibling rivalry are well known by now – Jamie mashing Andy’s nail after being goaded when the younger Murray finally beat him, and with mum at the helm of a school-bus with a bunch of kids. Broken windows, nets made out of string between the furniture – what can be more fun than that?!
More importantly though, she knew when to hand over their training as their own careers started to flourish. She has been heavily involved with the Lawn Tennis Association, as they strive to duplicate the successes that the Murrays have brought to the sport, and in December 2011, she was appointed as the captain of the British Fed Cup team.
Now her time is taken up travelling the country tirelessly to promote the”Miss-Hits” program aimed at encouraging girls to play tennis as part of a starter programme with the emphasis on FUN! Between that, previous schemes encouraging children to play sports with everyday items as part of her Set4Sport scheme (balloon tennis anyone?) and more recently Tennis On the Road, there can be no excuse for children of all ages not to become more active.
The schedule is gruelling – pretty much a different venue every day, 75 new instructors alone for Miss-Hits – it’s not just about encouraging kids into sports, it is also about making sure the support is there and ongoing from the adults too.
This sterling work continues in her role as patron of the EBAT – founded by the late and much missed Elena Baltacha, she established an Academy of Tennis for girls and boys, again with the focus on encouragement, fun no matter what their skill level. We see excellence every day on the tour at the highest levels of the sport, but that dedication comes from nurturing at a young age, and EBAT is a perfect structure to help instill both fun and discipline for our hopeful future tennis stars.
Somewhere in all of this she even found time to participate in the popular Strictly Come Dancing series, even getting Andy to dance with her on TV! While we are on the subject of fun – if you need a cake run-down, she’s your girl! What this woman does not know about global desserts is really not worth knowing!
Seriously – one look at her social media feeds shows just how much she does daily, weekly, to help promote (the) sport, and we will hope to announce a date for the presentation soon, but until that time we give you: Judy Murray – 10sBalls.com Coach of the Year.
Topics: 10sballs.com, Andy Murray, Coach Of The Year, Jamie Murray, Judy Murray, Ros Satar, Tennis News
-@10sBalls_com Are Proud To Announce They Will Be Awarding @judmoo Their #CoachOfTheYear Award! by Ros Satar- https://t.co/Vy3LnSyncQ
@10sBalls_com Are Proud To Announce They Will Be Awarding @judmoo Their Coach Of The Year Award! by Ros Satar
https://t.co/Vy3LnSyncQ
-@10sBalls_com Are Proud To Announce They Will Be Awarding @judmoo Their Coach Of The Year Award! By Ros Satar
https://t.co/Vy3LnSyncQ
-@10sBalls_com Are Proud To Announce They Will Be Awarding @judmoo Their #CoachOfTheYear Award! by Ros Satar
https://t.co/Vy3LnSPYBq #tennis