Scottish tennis talent soars high with sportscotland investment

Tuesday 25 October 2005

Sports Minister Patricia Ferguson today announced a £293,000 sportscotland investment in Scotland’s tennis players - improving coaching and development, providing athlete support and assisting Scotland’s tennis clubs as they bring on the next generation of tennis stars.

The sportscotland investment is a combination of £203,000 from the sportscotland Lottery Fund and £90,000 of sportscotland Exchequer investment from the Scottish Executive.

"This continued investment into tennis will provide our youngsters with the best possible training, coaching and individual athlete support."

Scottish tennis is on a high. With Dunblane’s Andrew Murray now in the world top 70 and the consistent improvement of up-and-comers such as Broomhill’s Jamie Baker (currently ranked 13^th in Great Britain and 367 in the world), Scottish players have made enormous progress at world level in recent years. But it’s not just Murray and Baker who are in the limelight. Currently there are six Scots within the top 500, two of whom are on the women’s circuit – UK number one Elena Baltacha of Perth (ranked 122 in the world) and Edinburgh’s Karen Paterson (world ranking 408). Additionally, Colin Fleming’s rankings show him to be the most improved Scottish tennis player of the past 12 months. From a world ranking of 1,253 at the end of 2004, the Linlithgow native has rocketed to 478. Fleming and partner Jamie Murray (older brother to Andrew) won their sixth international circuit doubles title of the year, and eleventh final of the season, at the British Futures Tournament in Edinburgh in October.

Sports Minister Patricia Ferguson said: “Tennis in Scotland is enjoying success like never before. Participation and interest in the sport is increasing as our new generation of players compete at the elite level all over the world.

“I was delighted to see that this year’s Davis Cup squad of five included three Scottish players, Andrew Murray, Alan Mackin and Jamie Baker. This funding will help to ensure that young players - inspired by the success of Scotland’s rising tennis stars - have access to the coaching and facilities they need to become the champions of the future.”

The announcement of today’s annual investment will give Tennis Scotland the means to focus domestically to improve the player development pathway and assist players who have the potential to succeed on the world stage. One of the critical roles is to build on the growth of the game at a junior level by enhancing the quality of performance programmes throughout Scotland. In fact, £90,000 of the 2005-06 investment will come from the Athlete Support programme for sports training and competition costs.

Performance club network development is also a key priority within this second year of the sport’s five-year business plan. Linking the district performance structure to the national performance structure and led by the national coach, Ellinore Lightbody, Tennis Scotland will advise and support the District Associations in the preparation and delivery of nine performance action plans. Additionally, focusing on a small number of talented athletes with the ability to compete internationally, the national coach will work closely with performance clubs and the Scottish and Area Institutes of Sport to deliver an integrated programme of support services. 

With over 27,300 members, Tennis Scotland’s membership base ranks it within the top five in Scottish sport.It also boasts an improving club network (203 clubs) and has an increasing number of qualified coaches. To consistently improve on this, and with the full involvement of sportscotland, a coaching development manager is to be introduced. This individual will help Tennis Scotland reach their ambitious targets for more licensed coaches and ensure that they have a high-quality coach education programme.

Julia Bracewell OBE, Chair of sportscotland, said: “We are delighted to award £293,000 towards Tennis Scotland. It has been a fabulous year for the success and growth of the sport in our country. This continued investment into tennis will provide our youngsters with the best possible training, coaching and individual athlete support.

“This financial contribution will not only nurture those who display the ability to compete and achieve on a world stage, but will help us to encourage more people to become more active, more often in the sport of tennis.”

Jim Campbell, CEO of Tennis Scotland, added: “At Tennis Scotland we are very excited about the future of the sport in this country and we are absolutely delighted with the investment being made by sportscotland. The success of Andrew Murray as well as other top Scottish players is incredible and undoubtedly will inspire youngsters to take up the sport.” 

• Tennis Scotland is the governing body for the game of tennis in Scotland. Local tennis clubs are affiliated to the organisation by nine District Associations.
• sportscotland has already committed £500,000 through the Lottery-funded Building for Sport Programme to the National Tennis Centre in Stirling (completion due early 2006). The new facilities, based at the University of Stirling, will include two indoor acrylic and two outdoor clay courts, together with office space for performance staff, to complement the four indoor courts at the existing tennis centre. The new centre will aim to support the development of talented tennis players, helping them to reach the pinnacle of their sport.
• Through the Athlete Support programme, sportscotland currently provides sports training and competition costs for three tennis players (£10,000 individual sports cost per athlete): Andrew Murray, Jamie Baker and Graham Dyce. Andrew Murray and Jamie Baker are Scottish Institute of Sport athletes.
• A further 19 athletes will also benefit from Athlete Support administered through the governing body.
• All athletes who receive Athlete Support will be supported by the sportscotland medical scheme.

Identified athletes (aged 16+) receiving Tennis Scotland Athlete Support 2005-06

JAMIE BAKER  Glasgow 

DAVID BREWER  Sandy, England 

GRAHAM DYCE  Edinburgh 

COLIN FLEMING  Linlithgow

ANDREW MURRAY  Dunblane

JAMIE MURRAY  Dunblane