Tennis stars of the future coached by Judy Murray

Judy Murray (right) at Kelso Orchard Tennis Club

Coaches Judy and Laura ran two sessions over the morning of Saturday, April 27, on behalf of the Judy Murray Foundation.

They were assisted local coaches Lesley Thomas and Kate Bull of L&K Tennis.

In total 37 girls, part of the Girls Tennis Community, attended the first session and benefited from coaching tips from Judy, mother of tennis stars Andy and Jamie.

For the second session, girls from schools in Kelso and the surrounding area were invited to come and give tennis a try.

This proved to be a great success and all of the girls enjoyed the morning.

Set up by Lesley and Kate, their Girls Tennis Community was launched in October last year to provide girls only sessions in the Borders.

These sessions focus on providing a friendly environment for the girls to learn tennis while creating lasting friendships and having fun.

Women and Girls in Sport is a key initiative for the Scottish Government and in 2017 the LTA introduced She Rallies in conjunction with Judy Murray, with the aim to get more females involved in playing and coaching tennis.

Another key programme developed by Judy and Laura is Miss-Hits, tennis for girls aged between five and eight years old which L&K Tennis have introduced in several towns around the borders.

Coach Kate said: “We asked Judy if she would come down and do a special session for our Girls Tennis Community and she was delighted to come along.

“It was such an inspiring morning for the girls as she is a fabulous role model.

“The sessions were great fun and showed the girls how to improve their tennis skills while making it competitive.”

Following on from providing girls taster sessions in schools in Kelso, Lesley and Kate are running girls only sessions on a weekly basis, with several girls and ladies only events planned over the next few months.

If you are interested in going along or would like to introduce girls only sessions at your club please contact lesleyandkatetennis@gmail.com for more information, or find them on Facebook.