Tennis stars of the future ‘need more support’
JUDY MURRAY has called for better financial help for promising young British tennis players after revealing the sacrifices her family made to support her two sons’ careers.
She said they were “skint” and had to take out a loan to fund Andy’s place at a tennis academy in Barcelona for three years when he was a teenager.
Murray said there was no prize money in junior tennis and it was very expensive to travel the world playing tournaments.
It was only after Andy turned professional at 18 in 2005 that he started earning, which helped the family support elder brother Jamie’s career on the doubles circuit.
“Andy won the US juniors in September 2004 and by the end of September 2005 I was watching him playing the final of an ATP tour event in Bangkok against Roger Federer,” Murray said.
“It was like the fastest rise ever. My God, it was fast, we were absolutely skint.
“You have no idea how expensive it is to develop a young tennis player.
“Once they outgrow their county area, you have to travel.
“Once you try and rise up the world junior rankings by having to play overseas, it is like going on holiday every week but without the fun.
“It’s hotels, accommodation, meals, physios and there is nothing coming back in because there is no prize money.
“It’s an enormous expense and it is why many, many kids and families pull out of it because the costs are just beyond the average family.”
She added: “My kids work incredibly hard at what they do, they have a very good work ethic and, coming from Scotland, you appreciate everything you get and you do work hard because nothing is handed to you on a plate.”
The mother of two, who was speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival on Sunday night to promote her new book said there was a lot more help in team sports.
“Tennis is a very expensive sport.
“If my kids had gone into rugby, football or cricket and been signed up by a club, the club would have paid for the kit, the training, the transport, the fixture list and as a parent you wouldn’t have to do very much, but in an individual sport you are responsible for all your own costs,” she said.
Murray also spoke of overcoming sexism in a male-dominated sport and described a time when she won a place on a tennis coaching course, alongside one other woman and 18 men.
“One of the tutors said to me on the first day, ‘You’re very lucky to have a place on this course and we had to turn a lot of men away.
“In fact, we complaint getting a place.’
“I thought, ‘Why are you telling me this? I am already feeling awful about being here.’
“He said, ‘What could you possibly offer to performance coaching when you have two kids?’
That was my first experience of sexism and realising it was going to be more of a struggle than I thought.
“This tutor telling me feel bad.” had a about formal you was obviously to make me THEY’RE THE functional items that help ensure the smooth running of hospitals and GP practices around the country.
But medical equipment such as syringes, cubicle curtains, toilet rolls and rubber gloves have been put to more imaginative use by one Yorkshire GP as part of an eye-catching charity calendar.
Dr Helen Walker, GP principal at the Silsden and Steeton Medical Practice in West Yorkshire, put the photos together for the calendar to raise money for Yorkshire Air Ambulance.
It follows a collection based around images of zombie doctors in aid of Manorlands Hospice in Oxenhope last year, which made the top ten ‘digital and creative art’ images in the Guild of Photographers Annual Awards. Dr Walker, who is a member of the Guild of Photography and has experience in fashion and portrait shooting, said: “I had an idea to make a charity calendar with our staff at the practice: at a time when the NHS is rather beleaguered and morale is low, I thought it would be fun and bring the team together.
“There was bit of trepidation to start with but now they are used to my odd ideas and seem to humour me and in fact are tremendously brave and fearless about getting in front of the camera.”
It was themed around ‘costumes made from medical equipment/high fashion’ and features doctors, nurses and staff wearing clothing usually seen in other places in the surgery.
It was shot over five separate days and involved the help of Scarlett Fox, a professional model based in Doncaster who individually drilled hundreds of tongue depressors to make a 20s-style flapper dress.
The calendars are priced at £7.50 (plus £1.50 P&P) and are available from Silsden Health Centre, Elliott Street, Silsden, BD20 0DG.
Dr Walker said: “We’ve been working closely with local volunteers from the charity to hold events where we sell calendars and they run a stall alongside us. We’ve sold over 30 calendars at our first one held at our flu clinic at the surgery last weekend.”
Yorkshire Air Ambulance is an independent charity providing a life-saving rapid response emergency service to over five million people across Yorkshire.