Twenty-three professional and amateur tennis coaches from six East African countries have benefited from two free tennis coaching clinics delivered by celebrated tennis coach, and former Scottish international player, Dr. Judy Murray.
Dr. Murray who is in Kenya on her first private visit to Africa, was hosted by the Sadili Oval Sports Academy, in Nairobi. She is best known as parent and coach to two world tennis no 1’s namely Jamie Murray and Sir Andy Murray.
Jamie who specializes in doubles is a seven-time Grand Slam doubles champion, a Davis Cup winner, and a former doubles world No. 1. Andy won three Grand Slam singles titles, two at Wimbledon, and one at the US Open, and reached eleven major finals.
According to Dr. Liz Odera, the Director of Sadili Oval Sports Academy, the initiative is part of a capacity building and mentoring work at the academy that aims to equip both tennis players and coaches with advanced skills in East Africa. 12 Kenyan coaches and 11 from Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, The Congo, and Tanzania participated in the training that took place on the 9th and 10th of August.
“The biggest problem we have in Africa is that we haven’t strengthened the base which is in the under ten and twelve years category. As long as we continue to have just one or two players at the national level with every subsequent generation of players we are not doing well. We therefore need to build up well and fast, if we want to get players that can grow to represent their countries at both national and international levels,“ said Dr. Odera.
Dr.Murray is a former Scottish international tennis player with 64 national titles to her name. She became Scottish National Coach in 1995, the same year that she became the first woman to pass the Lawn Tennis Association’s Performance Coach Award. She initiated the Scottish National Development Schools program targeting 20 kids aged 8 to 11, which ultimately produced four Davis Cup players and one Fed Cup player, including her Grand Slam-winning sons, Jamie and Andy.
Taking time off her schedule to lend her experience to Kenyan coaches Dr. Murray said she was impressed by the efforts of Sadili Oval Sports Academy to grow regional coaching capacity and interest at the lowest levels in tennis which she noted remains a minority sport even in Scotland.
“I love to share my philosophy of teaching which is all about making it fun and doable by breaking down the skills needed to play the game into manageable chunks for coaches and those starting in the sport. Tennis like other leisure and professional sports is competing with so many other things nowadays. We therefore must make the sport accessible and affordable to all by increasing the professional knowledge base through programs like these”, she said.
Dr. Murray has developed several initiatives such as ‘Miss-Hits’, a fun starter tennis program for girls aged 5–8, and ‘Tennis on the Road’, a mobile outreach program that takes tennis into areas of Scotland where the sport doesn’t exist.
She was accompanied by two other coaches, Emma Doyle, a former Tennis Australia high-performance, touring, and talent development coach with 30 years of experience and Tina Samara, a Transition Coach helping athletes globally navigate the often-challenging world of college sports.
Sadili Oval Sports Academy, located in Langa’ta Nairobi, offers sports facilities primarily for children from underprivileged communities interested in excelling in sports. According to Dr. Odera, the academy is currently focused on identifying global partners and world-class experts who understand how to work with younger age groups in tennis.
“These types of skills transfers and constant retraining where we merge both the player and coaches’ interests with global expertise are important to keep up with the changing trends in tennis or the sport and talent will continue to suffer. We are excited that we have added capacity in these coaches and expect that in two or three years it will pay off as we continue this program to help build up the game in the under 10 and 12 age groups she said.
Some of the topics covered during the free clinics included, teaching tennis in small spaces using different pieces of equipment, tools for growing tennis successfully in under-resourced communities, high-performance player development, high-performance mentoring of teenagers, and also skills in delivering tennis for large numbers.
Among the beneficiaries of the two-day clinics that were open to both professional and amateur tennis coaches, was Linda Janet Otieno. A resident of Kisumu currently working in Nairobi as an armature coach, Otieno lamented the effects of an increasingly sedentary lifestyle in young children and teenagers in the
country.
“I started playing tennis when I was in class six at Migosi Primary School in Kisumu, so I know what it takes. More and more children are neglecting play and sports in place of gadgets and screens. This means that some coming into the sport do not have the necessary physical strength and skills. I am here today to improve my tennis and coaching techniques to be able to impart these strength and coordination skills to the children before they can play the sport”, she said of the training.
While emphasizing the importance of inculcating critical and tactical thinking skills in young players Dr. Murray urged coaches to develop games and activities that can help in coaching children through mirroring actions and movements that the sport will demand of them at a higher level.
“Great athletes have great technical skills, but usually, it is the mental skills that separate those who get to the very top from the rest of the pack. I believe that children learn better through play which means that subconsciously they are building this strong mental attitude without even realizing it. I have shared with the coaches the importance of setting these challenges for the kids, regardless of what age they are, and getting them to work them out themselves,” said Dr. Murray.
On her part, Dr. Odera urged the government to open up more opportunities for investment in the sport especially at the primary and high school level, about equipment costs, entry and participation in regional tournaments as well as the training of coaches to keep up the momentum.
In addition to the free tennis clinics, the event also included engagements with parents on possible sports scholarships and college placements in the United States and Girl Power Camps. In 2012, Dr. Odera initiated Girl Power Clubs Africa, a teenage girls’ leadership through a sport program that impacts over 700 members annually.
It includes a tennis after-school education project in partnership with the Professional Tennis Registry, which is the largest global organization of tennis coaches with over 16,000 members in 125 countries. It provides certification in tennis instruction for tennis coaches and tennis professionals for all levels of tennis.
