The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Judy urges youngsters to ‘go like Mo and never quit’
Olympics: Children should learn from success of Team GB, says coach
Judy Murray urged children to learn valuable life lessons from Team GB’s exceptional success at the Rio Olympics.
The mother of gold medal-winning tennis star Andy Murray was in Aberdeen on a drive to help young people realise their career ambitions.
But she warned yesterday that the chance to capitalise on Britain’s record medal haul for an overseas Games would be very short.
Pupils from Harlaw, Bridge of Don, Banff and Mackie academies took part in coaching sessions with the former Federation Cup captain at Aberdeen Sports Village.
The event was organised by Developing the Young Workforce in North East Scotland and Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce as part of the region’s efforts to improve the employment prospects of school leavers.
Mr Murray’s successful defence of the men’s singles title he won at the 2012 Olympics in London was one of 13 medals amassed by Scots – six with links to the north and north-east out of Team GB’s 2012-topping total of 67.
But his mum pointed to Mo Farah’s recovery from a fall to win the 10,000metres as another potentially powerful inspiration.
She said: “It’s like ‘Jeez, the guy fell’. How often do kids fail at something or something goes wrong for them and they just quit?
“If you are going to be successful, you have to have staying power, you have to have resilience. You have to have fight and determination.
“It about once you can do something consistently well, challenging yourself to go to the next stage.”
Mrs Murray added: “There are all sorts of examples that you can quote from the Olympics that are great lessons in life and business.
“Even if you never play sport, it can inspire you to watch and there are lots of things you can learn from watching sport in terms of the discipline, the routine.
“We have a huge medal haul and everyone is very excited about it, but the key is to capitalise on that and make sure that there are local facilities and engaging people.
“You usually have a two or three-week window after a big event to actually capture that imagination.”