Judy Murray headlines successful 2015 TPA Conference
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February 28, 2015 The 10th annual Tennis Professionals Association (TPA) Conference was another success in Toronto on Thursday, as Judy Murray shared her vast knowledge and experience with over 200 coaches from across Canada at Rexall Centre. Murray participated in various on-court and off-court sessions throughout the day. Among the topics she discussed was developing smart players, coaching a champion, coordination and skill development for kids from the ages of six to 11, and recruiting, coaching, and retaining female athletes. She also shared her unique perspective as a parent from raising her two sons, two-time Slam champion Andy and top doubles player Jamie. “As a female coach, we’re very much outnumbered by male coaches,” said Murray, who said she doesn’t often participate in big events like the TPA Conference. “And I think it’s very important that when we have a voice we try to use it. Not just to share of all the experiences we have and my philosophies of coaching but also to show women coaches out there that it is possible to move through the ranks and work at the top of the game. And for young females player to consider that coaching can be a career for the future. So I don’t do this a lot and I can’t say I’m the most comfortable speaker in front of big groups. But I do believe it’s very important to share and present a woman’s perspective.” Besides being the first coach of her sons, Murray has been a national coach with the Lawn Tennis Association and is currently Fed Cup captain for Great Britain. She is also a huge contributor to grassroots tennis, where she is the founder of Set4Sport, a program created to help parents find easy and accessible ways to play with their children at an early age, and Miss-Hits, a program designed to attract more young girls to the sport of tennis. At its core, she said coaching is critical for tennis at all stages of development. “It’s very important to have a strong workforce,” she said. “By that I mean strong in numbers but also strong in quality level. And you need to be strong at all different levels – at entry level, at regional level, at national level and international level. You have to have your role models at the top of the game and Canada is in a very fortunate position because you have three incredible big profile players and huge potential in Bouchard, Raonic and Pospisil. But you’re only as good as your grassroots. So you really have to have a lot of activity happening at the entry level of the game and a strong pathway all the way up to the top. And that is almost always due to your workforce and the environments that they can create.” As part of her visit to Canada, Murray also was the headliner at an event on Wednesday at Uniprix Stadium in Montreal, where 40 coaches heard her speak. In the lunch hour, winners of the 2014 TPA Excellence Awards were presented with their awards and celebrated for their dedication to the sport. Recipients included Bill Cowan, Ken Crosina, Donalda Club, Calgary Tennis Club, Brian Myers, Kyrylo Tabunshchyk, and Carson Bell. The conference also acted as the official launch of the new TPA brand, including a fresh new logo. Dedicated to growing the profession of tennis coaching in Canada, the TPA was introduced by Tennis Canada in 2004 to assist the nation’s certified instructors, coaches, and club professionals, and its membership has grown each year to over 2,900 people. The TPA celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2014 and Murray joins an esteemed list of past conference guest speakers, including Paul Annacone and Brad Gilbert. |
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