Judy Murray headlines an impressive line-up of presenters booked for the annual Tennis Wales coaches’ conference in Cardiff.
Judy, mother of Andy and Jamie, is a former Scottish national coach with 20 years experience of working from club level to world-class with both junior and senior players.
She set up the National Development School in Scotland in 1994 for players age 8-11 which included Elena Baltacha, Colin Fleming, Jamie Baker, Andy Murray and Jamie Murray.
She recently launched a programme called Set4Sport which shows parents fun games and activities to play at home with children to help them develop coordination skills.
The conference is aimed at UKCC Level 2 coaching assistants, coach, senior coach and master coach qualified coaches. The aim is to provide information and ideas on how to give the younger players of the game the best possible grounding and start in tennis enabling them to develop at the most appropriate rate for them.
“The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Developing a positive playing environment for younger players’,” said organiser Simon Clarke. “We’ve invited some really top-level coaches and coach educators, offering both technical expertise and inspirational motivation. Hopefully there’ll be something for everyone to learn from and be provided an array of insights into developing the game at a younger level. ‘’
The conference, supported by Sport Wales and Wilson, takes place at the Welsh National Tennis Centre, Ocean Way, on Saturday October 8 from 9.30am to 6.30pm.
“It’s going to be a busy but rewarding day,” said Clarke. “We’ll be offering bacon rolls and coffee before we start, and in the evening, there’s a social event for everyone to relax and enjoy themselves after a hard day on court!’’
Other presenters include Mike Barrell, Evolve 9, Paul Dent, Tennis Coaches Toolkit, Mark Tennant, Richard Marklow, Inspire2Coach
Any tennis coaches interested in attending or wanting to find out more, should contact Simon Clarke at Tennis Wales on 029 20 463335 or simon.clarke@tenniswales.org.uk