Judy Murray led a training session at David Lloyd Westbury today for coaches of a brand new tennis programme, ‘Miss-Hits’. Coaches from Bristol were put through their paces as they learnt the games, dances and skill-building exercises needed to deliver this unique and exciting new way of attracting young girls into tennis.
Miss-Hits is a fun starter-tennis programme that will not only get more girls playing the sport but also more women coaches involved in introducing the game to girls. Created by Judy Murray and launched in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), Miss-Hits encourages 5-8 year-olds to try tennis in a fun, friendly, all-girl environment.
Aegon GB Fed Cup Team Captain, Judy Murray said: “This training session, and the others across the country, is all about getting the right coaches in place with the right skills to deliver Miss-Hits in their areas.
We have looked at what young girls enjoy doing and use: music, dance, games and animated characters, to create fun skill-building activities that will appeal. It is the coaches who will be the ones delivering these activities and that is what makes these training sessions so important. The programme is backed up by a website and an app that teaches the girls about score-keeping and competition.
The next stage of Miss-Hits will be these coaches getting out the programme to their clubs and the first girls joining the classes. The friendly approach of Miss-Hits gives girls a really positive first experience of the sport and I can’t wait to get started!”
With the help of six fun and diverse characters, Miss-Hits lays the foundations for future tennis players and encourages active and healthy lifestyles in a social setting that hopes to retain female players in the game. Miss-Hits also acts as a feeder into LTA Mini Tennis sponsored by Highland Spring.
LTA Head of Participation Rob Dearing added: “We are delighted to be launching this great programme that will encourage more young girls to try the sport. Miss-Hits combines the development of early tennis skills with the things young girls do in their everyday lives. It’s an innovative way to make the sport more attractive, and addresses the issues that put some young girls off the sport.
The coach training sessions that are running across the country are the first step in ensuring that we have the right people running these courses and having Judy deliver the training will be a great inspiration to the coaches today to go out to their venues and begin introducing Miss-Hits.”
Miss-Hits courses will be rolled out in Bristol from the autumn. The coach training courses continue in this week and will take place in London, Manchester and Stirling with the programme planned to be expanded to other cities in 2015.
For more information go to www.miss-hits.co.uk or www.lta.org.uk