Latest news with #JudyMurray
Glasgow Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- Glasgow Times
Why are female coaches still an endangered species?
Women being good athletes and being deserving of recognition is becoming, whisper it, normal. In contrast, though, the progress made when it comes to representation of female coaches has been negligible, if there at all. The coaching world is well and truly dominated by men. Yes, there's pockets in which female coaches are more commonplace - invariably it's within women's sport - but on the whole, coaching remains a man's game. The need for more female coaches was brought into the spotlight this week with the launch of Judy Murray's 'Learn to Lead' initiative, which aims to 'equip and empower young girls to become Scotland's next generation of sporting leaders'. Murray's goal is not only to encourage more females into coaching - she ultimately wants to see more women in non-athlete roles across the board including fitness trainers, physios, management and in the boardroom - and she's right in the assertion that women are outnumbered in pretty much every area of sport, but it's within the coaching sphere that the disparity between male coaches and female coaches is so clearly apparent. Judy Murray is a huge supporter of increasing the number of female coaches in sport (Image: Connor Mollison) If we take elite sport first, and specifically elite men's sport, then female coaches are like black rhinos in that they're such an endangered species that they're almost impossibly hard to spot. The situation is better in women's elite sport with female coaches more commonplace. But despite having a greater presence in women's sport, female coaches remain chronically outnumbered by male ones. Murray knows what it feels like to exist in a male-dominated world; for the entirety of her coaching career, she was either the lone women in the room, or was one of only a tiny group of women in a sea full of men. The picture at grassroots level is not much better than in elite sport. Across grassroots sport, male coaches, again, dominate the landscape. Indeed, research released earlier this year which was conducted by YouGov on behalf of UK Sport reported that only 38 percent of sports coaches are female and perhaps most worryingly, this is a 6 percent drop from two years ago. There's a number of reasons why having female coaches is not just important, but vital. Firstly, there's the 'if you can't see it, you can't be it' argument. The presence of female coaches shows young girls that coaching is a viable path for them to choose. We've seen the benefits of young girls starting to realise that it is entirely feasible to dream about becoming an elite athlete - the increased profile of women's sport has made becoming a professional athlete a legitimate career goal for young girls - but the dearth of female coaches means that, all too often, becoming a coach just doesn't seem like a realistic aim for many young girls and women. Secondly, female coaches often bring an entirely different approach to their work in comparison to their male counterparts. Women have a different manner, a different way of tackling challenges and issues, a different way of communicating and, perhaps most importantly, a different (and better) understanding of female athletes. Female athletes are not, in so many ways, the same as male athletes. Yet for male coaches, it is, understandably, extremely hard for them to tweak their approach accordingly because, to put it simply, they often just don't get it. To a lot of male coaches, an athlete is an athlete but female coaches have a greater understanding of how female athletes may need to be treated not more gently, but differently to male athletes. Any progress with the representation of female coaches, particularly at elite level which is the most visible, must be celebrated. The Scotland women's football team had two high-profile and successful women at the helm in the shape of Anna Signeul between 2005 and 2017 and Shelly Kerr between 2017 and 2020. Male coaches then took over until, encouragingly, a female returned to the helm in the shape of Australian national, Melissa Andreatta, whose first game in charge was just over a week ago. There's a similar picture in women's club football too, in which there's a number of female coaches, but plenty of men as well. Individual sport, for some reason, seems to fare even worse when it comes to female coaches at elite level. In Murray's sport of tennis, female coaches are an astonishingly rare sight, particularly in the men's game but they're remarkably uncommon in women's tennis too, and this is mirrored across many other individual sports. There's a number of reasons for this. Elite sport is not a working-from-home job. Working with an elite athlete means you have to go where they go and in the case of most athletes, that means trekking the globe for over half the year. In the case of tennis, it means globetrotting for eleven months of the year. For many women, particularly if they have children, this is just not a workable or an attractive proposition. In contrast, it's far more common, and far more accepted, for men to leave their family at home for months at time while they travel the world as an elite-level coach. And there's the ingrained gender-bias or, in the worst cases, misogyny, which means women remain undervalued and underestimated as coaches. The decades-long dominance of men in the coaching sphere has resulted in women's potential value being totally underestimated, with the assumption being commonplace that men just make better coaches. This is absolutely and definitively not true, but it remains a pervading belief throughout many areas of sport. I'm optimistic that the number of female coaches both at grassroots and at elite level can improve. The progress made by women's sport in recent years is surely an indicator of what can be done. But progress won't happen overnight, nor will it happen without a concerted effort to change things. Murray's programme will, I hope, bear some fruit within Scotland because it's not only female athletes who would benefit from more female coaches, it's sport as a whole. AND ANOTHER THING… The news that Scotland women's rugby team will play at Murrayfield for their Six Nations match against England next year is thrilling news. The Scotland women's team has made impressive progress in recent seasons and playing at Murrayfield, where they're expected to attract a record-breaking crowd, is deserved reward. (Image: MOLLY DARLINGTON/ GETTY IMAGES) While the current home to the women's national team, Hive Stadium, has been an excellent venue, there's indisputably something different about playing at the national stadium, and it gives the women's game the extra kudos that comes with playing at the sport's national stadium. This is a significant step forward for women's rugby in Scotland, and now it's in the players hands to make the most of it with a good perforce against England next April.
The National
3 days ago
- Sport
- The National
Why are female coaches still an endangered species?
Women being good athletes and being deserving of recognition is becoming, whisper it, normal. In contrast, though, the progress made when it comes to representation of female coaches has been negligible, if there at all. The coaching world is well and truly dominated by men. Yes, there's pockets in which female coaches are more commonplace - invariably it's within women's sport - but on the whole, coaching remains a man's game. The need for more female coaches was brought into the spotlight this week with the launch of Judy Murray's 'Learn to Lead' initiative, which aims to 'equip and empower young girls to become Scotland's next generation of sporting leaders'. Murray's goal is not only to encourage more females into coaching - she ultimately wants to see more women in non-athlete roles across the board including fitness trainers, physios, management and in the boardroom - and she's right in the assertion that women are outnumbered in pretty much every area of sport, but it's within the coaching sphere that the disparity between male coaches and female coaches is so clearly apparent. Judy Murray is a huge supporter of increasing the number of female coaches in sport (Image: Connor Mollison) If we take elite sport first, and specifically elite men's sport, then female coaches are like black rhinos in that they're such an endangered species that they're almost impossibly hard to spot. The situation is better in women's elite sport with female coaches more commonplace. But despite having a greater presence in women's sport, female coaches remain chronically outnumbered by male ones. Murray knows what it feels like to exist in a male-dominated world; for the entirety of her coaching career, she was either the lone women in the room, or was one of only a tiny group of women in a sea full of men. The picture at grassroots level is not much better than in elite sport. Across grassroots sport, male coaches, again, dominate the landscape. Indeed, research released earlier this year which was conducted by YouGov on behalf of UK Sport reported that only 38 percent of sports coaches are female and perhaps most worryingly, this is a 6 percent drop from two years ago. There's a number of reasons why having female coaches is not just important, but vital. Firstly, there's the 'if you can't see it, you can't be it' argument. The presence of female coaches shows young girls that coaching is a viable path for them to choose. We've seen the benefits of young girls starting to realise that it is entirely feasible to dream about becoming an elite athlete - the increased profile of women's sport has made becoming a professional athlete a legitimate career goal for young girls - but the dearth of female coaches means that, all too often, becoming a coach just doesn't seem like a realistic aim for many young girls and women. Secondly, female coaches often bring an entirely different approach to their work in comparison to their male counterparts. Women have a different manner, a different way of tackling challenges and issues, a different way of communicating and, perhaps most importantly, a different (and better) understanding of female athletes. Female athletes are not, in so many ways, the same as male athletes. Yet for male coaches, it is, understandably, extremely hard for them to tweak their approach accordingly because, to put it simply, they often just don't get it. To a lot of male coaches, an athlete is an athlete but female coaches have a greater understanding of how female athletes may need to be treated not more gently, but differently to male athletes. Any progress with the representation of female coaches, particularly at elite level which is the most visible, must be celebrated. The Scotland women's football team had two high-profile and successful women at the helm in the shape of Anna Signeul between 2005 and 2017 and Shelly Kerr between 2017 and 2020. Male coaches then took over until, encouragingly, a female returned to the helm in the shape of Australian national, Melissa Andreatta, whose first game in charge was just over a week ago. There's a similar picture in women's club football too, in which there's a number of female coaches, but plenty of men as well. Individual sport, for some reason, seems to fare even worse when it comes to female coaches at elite level. In Murray's sport of tennis, female coaches are an astonishingly rare sight, particularly in the men's game but they're remarkably uncommon in women's tennis too, and this is mirrored across many other individual sports. There's a number of reasons for this. Elite sport is not a working-from-home job. Working with an elite athlete means you have to go where they go and in the case of most athletes, that means trekking the globe for over half the year. In the case of tennis, it means globetrotting for eleven months of the year. For many women, particularly if they have children, this is just not a workable or an attractive proposition. In contrast, it's far more common, and far more accepted, for men to leave their family at home for months at time while they travel the world as an elite-level coach. And there's the ingrained gender-bias or, in the worst cases, misogyny, which means women remain undervalued and underestimated as coaches. The decades-long dominance of men in the coaching sphere has resulted in women's potential value being totally underestimated, with the assumption being commonplace that men just make better coaches. This is absolutely and definitively not true, but it remains a pervading belief throughout many areas of sport. I'm optimistic that the number of female coaches both at grassroots and at elite level can improve. The progress made by women's sport in recent years is surely an indicator of what can be done. But progress won't happen overnight, nor will it happen without a concerted effort to change things. Murray's programme will, I hope, bear some fruit within Scotland because it's not only female athletes who would benefit from more female coaches, it's sport as a whole. AND ANOTHER THING… The news that Scotland women's rugby team will play at Murrayfield for their Six Nations match against England next year is thrilling news. The Scotland women's team has made impressive progress in recent seasons and playing at Murrayfield, where they're expected to attract a record-breaking crowd, is deserved reward. (Image: MOLLY DARLINGTON/ GETTY IMAGES) While the current home to the women's national team, Hive Stadium, has been an excellent venue, there's indisputably something different about playing at the national stadium, and it gives the women's game the extra kudos that comes with playing at the sport's national stadium. This is a significant step forward for women's rugby in Scotland, and now it's in the players hands to make the most of it with a good perforce against England next April.
The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Why are female coaches still an endangered species?
The coaching world is well and truly dominated by men. Yes, there's pockets in which female coaches are more commonplace - invariably it's within women's sport - but on the whole, coaching remains a man's game. The need for more female coaches was brought into the spotlight this week with the launch of Judy Murray's 'Learn to Lead' initiative, which aims to 'equip and empower young girls to become Scotland's next generation of sporting leaders'. Murray's goal is not only to encourage more females into coaching - she ultimately wants to see more women in non-athlete roles across the board including fitness trainers, physios, management and in the boardroom - and she's right in the assertion that women are outnumbered in pretty much every area of sport, but it's within the coaching sphere that the disparity between male coaches and female coaches is so clearly apparent. Judy Murray is a huge supporter of increasing the number of female coaches in sport (Image: Connor Mollison) If we take elite sport first, and specifically elite men's sport, then female coaches are like black rhinos in that they're such an endangered species that they're almost impossibly hard to spot. The situation is better in women's elite sport with female coaches more commonplace. But despite having a greater presence in women's sport, female coaches remain chronically outnumbered by male ones. Murray knows what it feels like to exist in a male-dominated world; for the entirety of her coaching career, she was either the lone women in the room, or was one of only a tiny group of women in a sea full of men. The picture at grassroots level is not much better than in elite sport. Across grassroots sport, male coaches, again, dominate the landscape. Indeed, research released earlier this year which was conducted by YouGov on behalf of UK Sport reported that only 38 percent of sports coaches are female and perhaps most worryingly, this is a 6 percent drop from two years ago. There's a number of reasons why having female coaches is not just important, but vital. Firstly, there's the 'if you can't see it, you can't be it' argument. The presence of female coaches shows young girls that coaching is a viable path for them to choose. We've seen the benefits of young girls starting to realise that it is entirely feasible to dream about becoming an elite athlete - the increased profile of women's sport has made becoming a professional athlete a legitimate career goal for young girls - but the dearth of female coaches means that, all too often, becoming a coach just doesn't seem like a realistic aim for many young girls and women. Secondly, female coaches often bring an entirely different approach to their work in comparison to their male counterparts. Women have a different manner, a different way of tackling challenges and issues, a different way of communicating and, perhaps most importantly, a different (and better) understanding of female athletes. Female athletes are not, in so many ways, the same as male athletes. Yet for male coaches, it is, understandably, extremely hard for them to tweak their approach accordingly because, to put it simply, they often just don't get it. To a lot of male coaches, an athlete is an athlete but female coaches have a greater understanding of how female athletes may need to be treated not more gently, but differently to male athletes. Any progress with the representation of female coaches, particularly at elite level which is the most visible, must be celebrated. The Scotland women's football team had two high-profile and successful women at the helm in the shape of Anna Signeul between 2005 and 2017 and Shelly Kerr between 2017 and 2020. Male coaches then took over until, encouragingly, a female returned to the helm in the shape of Australian national, Melissa Andreatta, whose first game in charge was just over a week ago. There's a similar picture in women's club football too, in which there's a number of female coaches, but plenty of men as well. Individual sport, for some reason, seems to fare even worse when it comes to female coaches at elite level. In Murray's sport of tennis, female coaches are an astonishingly rare sight, particularly in the men's game but they're remarkably uncommon in women's tennis too, and this is mirrored across many other individual sports. There's a number of reasons for this. Elite sport is not a working-from-home job. Working with an elite athlete means you have to go where they go and in the case of most athletes, that means trekking the globe for over half the year. In the case of tennis, it means globetrotting for eleven months of the year. For many women, particularly if they have children, this is just not a workable or an attractive proposition. In contrast, it's far more common, and far more accepted, for men to leave their family at home for months at time while they travel the world as an elite-level coach. And there's the ingrained gender-bias or, in the worst cases, misogyny, which means women remain undervalued and underestimated as coaches. The decades-long dominance of men in the coaching sphere has resulted in women's potential value being totally underestimated, with the assumption being commonplace that men just make better coaches. This is absolutely and definitively not true, but it remains a pervading belief throughout many areas of sport. I'm optimistic that the number of female coaches both at grassroots and at elite level can improve. The progress made by women's sport in recent years is surely an indicator of what can be done. But progress won't happen overnight, nor will it happen without a concerted effort to change things. Murray's programme will, I hope, bear some fruit within Scotland because it's not only female athletes who would benefit from more female coaches, it's sport as a whole. AND ANOTHER THING… The news that Scotland women's rugby team will play at Murrayfield for their Six Nations match against England next year is thrilling news. The Scotland women's team has made impressive progress in recent seasons and playing at Murrayfield, where they're expected to attract a record-breaking crowd, is deserved reward. (Image: MOLLY DARLINGTON/ GETTY IMAGES) While the current home to the women's national team, Hive Stadium, has been an excellent venue, there's indisputably something different about playing at the national stadium, and it gives the women's game the extra kudos that comes with playing at the sport's national stadium. This is a significant step forward for women's rugby in Scotland, and now it's in the players hands to make the most of it with a good perforce against England next April.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Judy Murray predicts son Andy's next career move after shock coaching split from Novak Djokovic
Andy Murray 's mother - Judy - has weighed in on what her son's potential next career step could be after his short-lived coaching partnership with Novak Djokovic. The two-time Wimbledon champion and his former rival shocked the tennis world at the end of last year with the announcement that the newly retired Murray would be joining the Serbian's set-up. Initially announced for the Australian Open, Murray took up his spot in Djokovic's box at his tune-up tournament at the start of the season in Brisbane. Djokovic enjoyed a strong showing in Melbourne - notably beating young rival Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals - before he was forced to retire during his semi-final against Alexander Zverev through injury. But after an unsteady showing on clay, marked by first-round exits at Monte-Carlo and Madrid, the pair decided to call time on their partnership last month. And now, Judy has revealed the initial reason behind her son's decision to coach Djokovic, and how the stress he endured while in the role may force him to take a short break before immersing himself in the tennis world so soon. 'Andy had just retired and wasn't looking to go into coaching but he stepped in because Novak asked him,' she told The National. 'When they joined up, I was certainly interested to see how he got on being on the other side of things and realising how stressful it can be. I don't think he's ready to jump straight back into coaching, though, because the tennis circuit is relentless.' Judy went on to predict that her son may look for another mentoring role in tennis, perhaps away from full-time traditional coaching. The 65-year-old added: 'I can see him doing a consultant type role with young players and he's already done a lot of mentoring with the British players on the men's side who are coming through, but I can't see him being a full-time tennis coach.' Judy, a tennis coach herself, explained that her three-time Grand Slam-winning son would likely prefer some time with his children before coaching again. Her 'guess' is that he will not make an immediate return to the sport in any capacity. 'There's more to life than jumping straight back into the tennis rat race after nearly 20 years as a player. I don't think he'll necessarily want to jump back onto that merry-go-round – not when you're someone who's got four kids to taxi around and you want to get your golf handicap to scratch. 'Whether he does it in the future, I don't know – that's for him to answer and I actually don't think he knows the answer either but my guess is not right now.' Murray has already taken up a non-tennis role since ending his partnership with Djokovic. The Scot shifted his interests back to the business world last month, and was announced as a new associate partner at Redrice Ventures - a London-based venture capital fund. Under the company's aegis, Murray will help launch the Redrice Sports Collective, a group of athlete advisors and 'key decision-makers in sport' shaping investment opportunities. Murray already has a stacked investment portfolio which includes his hotel in Scotland, Cromlix, padel tennis court developers Game4Padel and crowdfunding platform Seedrs.
The Herald Scotland
5 days ago
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Judy Murray on females as leaders, and the Andy/Novak partnership
Murray has launched 'Learn to Lead', which aims to equip and empower young girls to become Scotland's next generation of sporting leaders and it follows on from her 'Miss Hits' programme, which, for over a decade, has been working to increase the number of women and girls involved in tennis. Murray has long been a believer that the best way to change things is to target kids in an attempt to form habits and foster enthusiasm at a young age. 'Learn to Lead' is in this mould and by aiming the programme at primary school girls, Murray is hopeful of making a meaningful difference in terms of the number of girls who become, and remain, involved in all areas of tennis. 'This programme is very simple, but it's done well - it'll develop leadership skills in girls aged between 10 and 12 and teach them how to deliver to younger girls,' Murray explains. 'Initially, 20 schools will be involved but the schools have to be in close proximity to a tennis club or tennis courts because we have to have an exit strategy for the girls and somewhere they can go to progress. 'We're not necessarily looking for them all to become top-level coaches, we're just wanting to keep them involved in tennis.' Judy Murray launched 'Learn to Lead' in Edinburgh yesterday (Image: Connor Mollison) Murray was prompted to develop this initiative off the back of the figures released by Women in Sport which found that 1.3 million teenage girls who had previously considered themselves 'sporty' drop out of exercise and activity when they leave primary school. It is, says Murray, a shocking statistic and it's a trend that, she believes, cannot be allowed to continue. 'The Women in Sport data is horrific and when I saw it I thought we really need to look at solutions instead of just keeping talking,' she says. 'A lot of the drop-out is to do with girls growing up so quickly these days - there's a loss of confidence and they become more aware of their body image around 11, 12 years old now so by developing something that empowers girls through the primary years and helping them go into high school with more confidence and a greater enjoyment of sport can only be a good thing. 'And the leadership angle in this programme is driven by my own experience of being a female in a very male-dominated world.' Murray is keen to emphasise to young girls that becoming a professional tennis player is not the only way to become and remain involved in the sport. And while so many roles within sport as a whole are currently occupied by men, Murray remains optimistic that, with the right support and strategies, this can change. 'We need to plant the seed earlier in girls that whether you play sport to a good level or not, there are plenty of jobs for you,' she says. 'There has to be a better understanding of how important it is to have women in the sporting workforce in all areas and by that I mean physios, trainers, event management and everything in-between. 'With this programme, it's about starting small but dreaming big because we have to aim towards full equality in coaching and leadership. 'I do think we can get to full equality eventually but it's about having more women in leadership positions in sport because men see the world with a male lens and that doesn't help us. 'It's about creating opportunity and if this programme can start to plant seeds, bear fruit at a young age and show girls how they can be the boss by giving them a little bit of responsibility then great.' Murray was, unsurprisingly, an interested observer in Andy Murray's coaching partnership with Novak Djokovic, which began last November and ended abruptly last month after just six months together. Andy's foray into the coaching ranks wasn't particularly unexpected but few had anticipated his first coaching job to be with the greatest player of all time. Andy Murray coached Novak Djokovic for six months before splitting last month (Image: Getty Images) Results-wise, the partnership was perhaps not as fruitful as either would have liked but few doubt that Andy has the skills and knowledge it takes to be a top-level coach. Judy is in complete agreement that Andy has the tools to be an excellent coach and while she's reluctant to make any predictions as to her son's next move, she seems fairly certain that he isn't champing at the bit to return to the coaching world in the near future. 'Andy had just retired and wasn't looking to go into coaching but he stepped in because Novak asked him. When they joined-up, I was certainly interested to see how he got on being on the other side of things and realising how stressful it can be,' she says. 'I don't think he's ready to jump straight back into coaching, though, because the tennis circuit is relentless. 'I can see him doing a consultant type role with young players and he's already done a lot of mentoring with the British players on the men's side who are coming through but I can't see him being a full-time tennis coach. 'There's more to life than jumping straight back into the tennis rat race after nearly 20 years as a player. I don't think he'll necessarily want to jump back onto that merry-go-round - not when you're someone who's got four kids to taxi around and you want to get your golf handicap to scratch. 'Whether he does it in the future, I don't know - that's for him to answer and I actually don't think he knows the answer either but my guess is not right now.'
