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Linklater's Scotland -
Scotland's budding tennis talent
Magnus Linklater
Columnist, Scotland on Sunday
This article,
which was originally published in the Spectrum section of
Scotland on Sunday on 12th June 2005, is reproduced on Land-Care
with the kind permission of the author and the newspaper
filed 16 Jun 05
©Magnus Linklater
FROM the moment Andy Murray played his
first shot in the Davis Cup doubles against Israel last March, it
was clear that this would be a sensational game. At 17, the youngest
player ever to represent Britain, he drilled a back-hand over the
net at such speed that his opponents barely saw it, let alone had
time to react.
It was not just the power of his strokes
that impressed, however; it was his attitude. Although seven years
younger than his partner, David Sherwood, it was Murray who provided
the vocal encouragement, the enthusiasm and the commitment that
took the pair through the kind of setbacks that normally overwhelm
British teams, and on to a famous victory. Here was a player who
showed not only potential, but a steely determination to win.
Sitting in the audience, willing her son
on, as she always does, was the reason for that determination. Judy
Murray has been nurturing Andy’s talent ever since he first
picked up a racket, at the age of three at their home in Dunblane,
and showed that he knew what to do with it. As a champion player
herself, she helped train Andy and his brother Jamie, taking them
round local competitions, making sure they were given proper support
at Dunblane High School, and insisting on regular practice while
trying not to be too much of a bossy mum. Later, as Scotland’s
national tennis coach, she took charge of a growing squad of promising
young players, and began to instil in them the same sense of ambition.
Tennis is not exactly Scotland’s national
game. The weather is all wrong, for a start, and facilities for
year-round play are limited. Schools seldom rate tennis as a serious
sport. And since British players, short of Tim Henman, rarely set
the heather on fire, there are relatively few role models for youngsters
to emulate. Yet, in this Wimbledon month, a glance down the list
of young British players making their mark shows a disproportionate
number of Scots.
Andy himself, now US junior champion, was
given a wild card for last week’s Stella Artois championship,
and will compete in the men’s event at Wimbledon later this
month. Jamie, his brother, one year older, has just won his first
men’s ranking after beating the world junior champion in Portugal.
Colin Fleming, a 20-year-old Stirling University student, has climbed
400 places in the men’s double rankings after a series of stylish
wins. Jamie Baker, 19, is also climbing the list, after winning
his first ever men’s event in Mexico. Alan Mackin, aged 23,
is rated at 172, and also got a wild card for Wimbledon. Elena Baltacha,
21, got through three rounds in the Australian Open and is now ranked
120 in the world. Karen Paterson, from Edinburgh, reached the finals
of a major women’s event in Grenoble this year and found herself
ranked 390 in the world. Looking further down the list, there are
at least half a dozen Scottish players aged 15 or under who show
brilliant promise.
Not all of them have been trained by Judy
Murray, but her reign as national coach has seen a remarkable flourishing
of world-class players. This, then, should be the kind of success
story that commands headlines, support and, above all, funding.
Yet last year she stood down from her post. Worn out by years of
struggling for proper financing, she decided to call it a day. “I
was simply getting frustrated by the lack of support,” she
says.
“We had produced a significant number
of world-class players, but we still had no dedicated training base.
I was told that two members of staff would have to be laid off,
and that the Lawn Tennis Association was switching its funding away
from Tennis Scotland and into the clubs. We had hardly anything
to start off, and now we were going to have even less.”
Funding for players, which had been £76,000
in 2002-2003, came down to a mere £30,000 last year. Yet to
send just one player for coaching abroad costs all of that £30,000,
and more.
The pity of this is that, just as young
players are reaching their potential, ready to move on to the highly
demanding adult circuit - the point at which they need maximum training
and maximum support - the money is simply not there.
Largely through Judy Murray’s efforts,
a new tennis academy has been established at Stirling University;
the Institute of Sport, also at Stirling, boasts some of the best
facilities in the world; Tennis Scotland, the sport’s national
body, has a new coaching programme, which aims to improve the quality
of training. But unless there is sufficient funding to help players
take advantage of it, the training they get will not be followed
through. Most of the players mentioned above seek training elsewhere
to hone their game - Andy, for example, has been based for the past
few years in Barcelona. “We are still short of indoor facilities,
and outdoor courts,” says his mother.
“We must have outdoor clay courts so
that the players can get used to them. There are too many pockets
of the country where these are simply not accessible.”
Ellinore Lightbody, who has succeeded Murray
as national coach, agrees. “There are positives,” she
says. “We have enthusiastic and committed coaches who are willing
to learn, and a development programme to help them. But we do need
more funding to produce world-class players. We have the player
base, and we have the enthusiasm. There is a very positive approach.
But we do need more support to take advantage of that.”
Much of Murray’s efforts have gone
towards trying to raise money from the private sector, and the academy
has benefited from support provided by the Gannochy Trust. But,
while Scottish philanthropists such as Tom Hunter and Irvine Laidlaw
are keen to support educational projects, there seems a lack of
individuals prepared to come forward and back a national team effort
in what is still seen as a minority sport. No lucrative sponsorship
deals have been forthcoming so far. Success, it seems, has not yet
bred success.
“It is almost as if we are scared to
do something properly,” says Judy Murray. “It all comes
down to a sense of belief in ourselves. You hope that success will
rub off on other people, but somehow that hasn’t happened.
This would be as good a time as any for the Scottish Executive to
get involved, and invest in the success of their young people. Timing
is everything, and I cannot exaggerate the importance of doing the
right thing at the right time if you are to make progress.”
Meanwhile, she is devoting her time to writing
more about the sport as a journalist, helping the new coaching programme
and, of course, following the progress of her sons. What does she
think of Andy’s prospects? She is cautious. “I’ve
looked at all the averages, and it looks as if the majority of men
reach their peak at 21,” she says. “So Andy has got two
to three years to prove whether he can make it.
“He’s finding it tough; he still
has big improvements to make physically, and he needs to come forward
more and finish at the net. Above all, he has to be able to convert
game points into wins. At that level, the difference between winning
and losing comes down to two or three points.” Clearly, following
his defeat in the junior finals in Paris last week, and the way
he smashed his racket in frustration, he has some work to do on
controlling temperament.
What is not in doubt is his passion for
the game. His mother recalls watching that thrilling doubles match
against the Israeli champions. “I was so proud of him. He just
couldn’t wait to get on court. He was the most vociferous supporter
of the team, and he loved being part of it. At the US final I had
simply felt sick. But the Davis Cup game I enjoyed the whole way
through.”
A future Henman? She smiles. “We’ll
wait and see.”
©Magnus Linklater
This article:
http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/spectrum.cfm?id=640122005
Earlier articles in the series
 1.
Linklater, Magnus (2005). Linklater's Scotland. Scotland on Sunday
20th March 2005
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 24 Mar 05,
www.land-care.org.uk Click
Here to View
2.
Linklater, Magnus (2005). Linklater's Scotland - Easter in Easterhouse.
Scotland on Sunday 27th March 2005
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 31 Mar 05,
www.land-care.org.uk Click
Here to View
3.
Linklater, Magnus (2005). Linklater's
Scotland - Farming. Scotland on Sunday 3rd April 2005
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 07 Apr 0505,
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4.
Linklater, Magnus (2005). Linklater's
Scotland - Pitlochry. Scotland on Sunday 10th April 2005
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 15 Apr 05,
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5.
Linklater, Magnus (2005). Linklater's
Scotland - Supermarkets. Scotland on Sunday 17th April 2005
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 19 Apr 05,
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6.
Linklater, Magnus (2005). Linklater's Scotland - Kelvingrove. Scotland
on Sunday 24th April 2005
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7.
Linklater, Magnus (2005). Linklater's Scotland - Scottish regiments.
Scotland on Sunday 1st May 2005
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 05 May 05,
www.land-care.org.uk Click
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8. Linklater, Magnus (2005).
Linklater's Scotland - Pete Irvine, impresario. Scotland on Sunday
8th May 2005
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 13 May 05,
www.land-care.org.uk Click
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9. Linklater, Magnus
(2005). Linklater's Scotland - once a nation of adventurous entrepreneurs.
Scotland on Sunday 15th May 2005
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 16 May 05,
www.land-care.org.uk Click
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10. Linklater, Magnus (2005). Linklater's Scotland
- the heroism of John Moffat. Scotland on Sunday 22nd May 2005
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage,
filed 24 May 05, www.land-care.org.uk Click
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11. Linklater, Magnus (2005). Edinburgh pronounced
World City of Literature.
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage,
filed 04 June 05, www.land-care.org.uk Click
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12. Linklater, Magnus (2005). Scotland's fish-farms.
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage,
filed 10 June 05, www.land-care.org.uk Click
Here to View
Finis
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