Judy Murray visited Broadway Academy in Birmingham today to support the Tennis Foundation’s launch of their Tennis in Education Strategy, which aims to maximise young people’s personal potential through the sport.
Following an award-winning programme in partnership with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) offering support, advice, funding and free equipment to schools, colleges and universities over the past five years, Tennis in Education is now a key part of the wider British Tennis Strategy announced earlier this week.
Existing programmes will be strengthened while the Tennis Foundation is now looking more closely at the off court benefits tennis brings to pupils, including increased confidence, improved attendance and higher academic achievement, in addition to the health benefits that come from playing the sport.
GB Fed Cup Captain Murray was on hand to lead some fun sessions for young people aged from two to 22-years-old to show the breadth of the Education Programme and how easy it can be to deliver tennis in any educational environment.
Judy Murray has long been an advocate for providing more opportunities for young people to enjoy tennis and said today: “Tennis is so adaptable and it can be played almost anywhere if you have a bit of imagination. Schools are the perfect place for kids and teenagers to try all sorts of sports. Tennis can be played by pupils of any age and ability, using mini nets with softer balls in a school hall or playground.
“The more pupils we can engage with, the more chance we have to stimulate a love of our game that will feed our clubs and parks. That’s why I’m supporting the Tennis Foundation and LTA with the work they are doing to engage all young people, whatever their background, to enjoy all the benefits that tennis can bring whether playing, coaching, volunteering, refereeing or finding a career in the sport.”
The Tennis Foundation’s Executive Director, Geoff Newton, attended the launch saying: “The Tennis Foundation has already given the chance to 2.8 million children to play tennis in their school but with rising childhood obesity and inactivity still clearly such an issue, we have looked again at what we can offer to help combat these serious problems.
“With a renewed focus on secondary schools, colleges and universities, partnerships are key to helping us achieve our aims and we’re very fortunate to work with a number of other sporting organisations and charities to make a real difference to young people’s lives.”
LTA Chief Executive Michael Downey said: “Education is a key strand of our British Tennis strategy and fundamental to our ambitions to get more people playing tennis more often. The LTA and the Tennis Foundation will continue to work together to deliver a strong and effective tennis offer in the education setting, ensuring a positive early experience of tennis, lifelong habits grounded in physical activity and the growth of our game.”
Children and Families Minister Edward Timpson said: “As part of our plan for education, we want all young people to get into the habit of playing and enjoying sports – including tennis. That is why we introduced the PE and Sports Premium which gives primary schools over £450 million to improve the range and quality of all the sports they offer.
“Tennis is a fantastic way for young people to learn about confidence, discipline and determination – and develop skills that will help them once they step off the court.”
A new strand to the Tennis Foundation’s programme is in early years settings to provide two to five-year-olds with the fundamental skills of balance, agility and coordination.
The Foundation has also teamed up with the Youth Sport Trust to roll out the Beyond the Baseline social change programme following a successful pilot in 2014. The initiative sees former and current professional tennis players fully trained as mentors and sent into disadvantaged schools to inspire children on and off the court.
Broadway Academy was part of the Beyond the Baseline pilot in 2014 and the school was thrilled to host the strategy launch today in their sports hall: “Broadway Academy is renowned nationally for its record of academic achievement. However, we strive to develop the academic, physical and spiritual education of our students and tennis is a great medium for breaking through class barriers and addressing ingrained stereotypes,” added head teacher Ron Skelton.
“Bringing tennis to working class, inner city children through programmes such as Beyond the Baseline helps them aspire to become anything they hope to be and encapsulates our school motto ‘Our Children, Our Community, Believe it can be Done’.”
Tennis in Education Strategy Overview
This strategy is underpinned by the following objectives:
- To develop the physical literacy of young children, by offering programmes that provide positive, early experiences of sport through tennis.
- To retain the interest of teenagers in sport with new offers that provide tennis in innovative and relevant formats, and develops links with parks, clubs and other community venues.
- To use tennis as a vehicle to help develop further and higher education students’ skills and improve their employability and work-readiness.
- To champion the power of sport to deliver social change by supporting young people from disadvantaged areas in their personal development via a mentoring programme.
Key plans over next four years
Helping physical literacy in early years
- Give opportunities to children aged two to five to improve their physical literacy.
- Train tennis coaches and empower them to work in early years settings.
- Help one million more school children play tennis by 2017.
Retaining players in teenage years
- Radically change the way tennis is delivered in secondary schools.
- Create opportunities for young people to participate in schools tennis competitions.
Employability and work-readiness
- Support colleges and universities to enrich and widen the student experience, supporting learners to progress, gain skills and develop as individuals.
- Develop the future tennis workforce by supporting and deploying students into ambassador and coordinator roles.
Social change programmes
- Work with the Youth Sport Trust to deliver the Beyond the Baseline social change programme in 250 schools.
- Create a network of current and former tennis players and train them as mentors to support the programme.
- Expand our partnership with The Prince’s Trust to support more vulnerable young people through tennis.
Share