Judy Murray calls for LTA investment in her Dunblane project
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I’d be happy to look at anything that allows me to build it debt free
JUDY Murray has called on the Lawn Tennis Association to invest in her new public t ennis centre in Dunblane, a development intended to offer cheap pay-and-play facilities, inspire a generation of young players and secure a legacy for the achievements of her sons, Andy and Jamie.
The former Fed Cup captain says she has a funding gap of about £6 million for the tennis side of the multi-sport complex and called on the LTA and others to join with her to help build it debt-free.
T he £ 37 m Park of Kier development complex will include 12 tennis courts, a golf academy and a special Hard Rock Cafe-style centre, which will chart the journey of the Murray brothers to Grand Slam glory.
Murray said the centre would be established as a charitable trust, with all the profits being put straight back into improving and repairing the facility.
“I’d be happy to look at anything that allows me to build it debt-free so it can be affordable and accessible to as many people as possible, whether that’s sponsorship or crowdfunding or philanthropy,” Murray said in Melbourne.
“We’re just at the stage where we’re finalising the design, in the business plan. We’re just about there. But I’m hoping to build it debt-free, so I’m hoping there will be support from the LTA and from the government, and there will be some sponsors and philanthropists.”
Murray has long been concerned that Scotland and Britain in general have not been building a legacy to build on the achievements of Andy and Jamie, both of whom reached world No 1.
“I decided five years ago…that I had to start looking to build a Murray tennis centre,” Murray said. “It’s been enormously difficult, full of obstacles. Like with everything, I’ve just stuck at it. We are very close to it now.”
The LTA are understood to have previously indicated their support for the centre but have yet to pledge any money to help.
In 2011, the LTA gave £5m to Edgbaston Priory, the private members’ club in Birmingham that stages the Nature Valley Classic WTA event every June.
The Dunblane development has not been without controversy as it has moved through the planning st ages, with some opponents claiming it was simply “a Judy Murray vanity project”.
But Murray said it would be accessible to everyone, at a cost they can afford.
“It’s in our backyard in Dunblane and it’s all about families and community focused,” she said. “It’s not an elite academy.”
No public indoor tennis facilities were built in Scotland between 2006 and 2016 and, when you can find a public indoor court, it costs between £16 and £28 per hour to play.
“Between 2006 and 2016, which is when Andy and Jamie ended up as world No 1, there was nothing,” she said.
“You can’t capitalise on the success and you can’t build the game in a country like ours where the weather is terrible, if our courts are constantly flooded or covered in snow or you are playing in a howling gale. Kids are not resilient any more, so we need indoor facilities.
“It’s not just on the playing side. If we want to raise the level of coaches and see coaching as a career, you need to be able to work all year round. Really it’s just the commercial clubs where you have a chance. You need a cover, otherwise you are cancelling on a regular basis and it’s not attracting people to the game.”
Most of the funding for the entire complex will come from the sale of 19 house plots and the hotel plot, while the tennis costs would be subsidised by other sports.
“Tennis needs to be surrounded by other things. It needs to be part of a multi-sport thing because tennis on its own doesn’t survive unless it is very expensive and that is just not my thing at all. It is of no interest to me,” she said.
“We have set up a multi-sport and leisure [centre] so you make the money off that. It means you can reduce the cost of tennis involved.”
Murray is convinced she can repeat her success with Andy and Jamie.
“I think with what was achieved in Scotland against a backdrop of next to nothing, if you were a business, and there was an incredible area of productivity, you’d think you would invest in that area of productivity,” Murray said.
“Unfortunately it hasn’t been the case. But there’s still time to rectify that, and I think if I can get my centre going, if I can find support from the government and the LTA to build it debt-free, I still think there’s no reason why we can’t do this all over again.”