Judy Murray isn't your average tennis parent. Formerly the Scottish national coach, she's the mother of two ATP champs (Andy, Britain's number one player, and last year's Wimbledon mixed doubles champ, Jamie) who last summer took on the role of advisor to the Lawn Tennis Association's (LTA) new Tennis Leadership Team. Her new gig also makes her the talent and performance manager for Scotland.
Q. Tell me about your LTA role.
In Scotland I am charged with tennis activities for kids age six to nine ensuring they get good quality tennis programs while across the UK I run camps for the under-9 and under-10 girls. My camp this week has been about tactical training. It's important that we don't just produce cosmetically good players –that they don't just learn the technical side of the game but also link to the tactical side.
Q. You started a website—britishtennisparents.com—to offer junior-related advice. What motivated you to do that?
With Juniors tennis the parents are every bit as important as the coaches. It's the parents who do the ferrying around, they do the organizing and they pay for it. There was no good quality information to answer questions like what to do if your kid was starting out in tennis or if they are 17 and they want to play in a tournament overseas, how do you do that. So if you can help the parents do a better job than you should be able to make it easier for the kids.
Q. Do you think parents sometimes have unrealistic expectations?
Some parents do for sure. When you hear these stories of kids at six who are being moved to another country to train, hailed as the next big thing, you think there are a lot of talented kids out there but you have to be very careful how you develop them. It's a long road and the lifestyle at the end of it isn't always for everybody. You have to be mentally tough to survive at the end of the day.
Q. Tennis is an expensive sport and prohibits young people who do not have money from playing. Does this hurt the game?
That is something I feel really strongly about. For your average family, it is a very expensive sport. I do not think it is quite so expensive to get into it but when you start to develop children and they need to compete, you have to travel long distances, big costs are incurred and it does rule out a lot of people. If I could change one thing I would make it more accessible and more affordable for more families.
Q. Did you ever try to convince your sons not to pursue tennis?
Not really. From a young age they loved playing, it was what they wanted to do.
It was for me as a parent to create the right opportunities for them at the right time and it is up the child if they want to take advantage of that opportunity.
Q. In the lead up to Wimbledon the British press—and public—can be insatiable with anticipation...
When it comes to Wimbledon we surround both Jamie and Andy with people who they are comfortable with and then it is much easier for them to just to act normally. Andy has always loved the big occasion—so has Jamie—they both love the big court, the big event. And to be a top player you need to want to be out there—you see too many juniors who do not want people watching them. Any pressure that Andy feels is more likely to come from himself.