Pupils join Health & Social Care Secretary Neil Gray at launch of £1m investment into Scottish schools tennis

Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Neil Gray joined Scottish tennis star Anna Brogan and pupils from Inch View Primary School in Perth to take part in the school’s first tennis session delivered through the project. 

The initiative is a collaboration between the LTA, LTA Tennis Foundation, Tennis Scotland, sportscotland and the Scottish Government working together to grow tennis in Scottish schools. This investment is intended to capitalise on growing participation in Scotland and recognise the inspirational achievements of Andy Murray and Jamie Murray over many years, contributing to the ongoing achievements of players including Gordon Reid, Jacob Fearnley, Cam Norrie and Maia Lumsden.

The new funding will be provided by the LTA Tennis Foundation and sportscotland into the LTA Youth Schools programme. Tennis Scotland and the sportscotland Active Schools network will work directly with schools, with the ambition of giving every schoolchild in Scotland the opportunity to experience tennis, regardless of age, gender, ability, disability or background. This investment will also create pathways for children to continue to play tennis outside of their school by creating links to local clubs, parks and other venues with affordable programmes.

Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “The popularity of tennis is continuing to grow in Scotland with our young people inspired by the fantastic achievements of our tennis stars at the highest level of the sport. We want more young people to have the opportunity to play tennis, and this additional funding will widen access across schools by giving every pupil the chance to pick up a racket and ball.”

Scotland already leads the way in engagement with the LTA Youth Schools programme in Great Britain, which is supported by FAGE yogurt, with 53% of the 2,487 schools across the country having received support from the LTA and LTA Tennis Foundation, in partnership with Tennis Scotland, and more than 2,000 teachers are currently trained to deliver tennis sessions. This has helped to drive a 20% rise in junior tennis participation in Scotland over the past five years.

Through this investment, every school in Scotland will have access to a comprehensive support package, including teacher training and equipment allowing them to deliver introductory tennis sessions in gym halls during and outside the school day as well as building links with local accredited coaches and LTA registered clubs and venues to create a pathway for sustained tennis participation.

Margaret Donaghy, Headteacher/Campus Leader at Inch View Primary School who recently retained their gold sportscotland school award, welcomed the announcement: “We’re thrilled to be part of the national tennis initiative here at Inch View Primary. It’s a fantastic opportunity for our pupils to access high-quality resources, build their confidence, and discover the joy of sport.

“The support for staff has been outstanding, making it easy to deliver engaging sessions—and the smiles in the PE Hall say it all!"

Forbes Dunlop, Chief Executive of sportscotland, said: “It’s fantastic to see our National Lottery investment brought to life through this session at Inch View Primary. Our aim is to deliver free tennis in schools right across the country, breaking down some of the barriers to participation and building on the growing success of tennis in Scotland”

“This is a great example of how working with partners like the LTA, Tennis Scotland, and Scottish Government, supported by existing networks across the sector can help us achieve our aims and deliver significantly more opportunities for children and young people to try tennis and get more active.”

Scott Lloyd, LTA Chief Executive said: “We are proud to be putting this investment into Scotland to build on strong participation growth and capitalise on the inspiration of Andy Murray to ensure every Scottish child, no matter where they come from, has the opportunity to play tennis.

“Tennis is a sport for everyone, and we know that getting it into more schools is the best way to introduce kids to the game. FAGE LTA Youth lessons are packed with games and skill-building activities to help improve balance, agility, coordination for all sports, not just tennis.

“We’re now looking forward to the programme rolling out to schools across Scotland.” 

Blane Dodds, Chief Executive of Tennis Scotland, said: “Inspiring the next generation is important to ensuring tennis in Scotland continues to grow, so we’re excited to be putting a racket in the hands of more schoolchildren across the country.

“By continuing to introduce tennis and making it fun and engaging, we’re confident that more young people will fall in love with our sport and develop lifelong skills - and we’ll be working hard to make sure programmes like this drive participation and create opportunities.

“We’re looking forward to working alongside our partners the LTA, sportscotland and the Scottish Government to maximise this investment and recognise the inspirational successes of many Scottish players on the global stage in recent years.”

Meanwhile all parties remain committed to working on securing the future of a tennis centre of national significance for Scotland and are progressing with plans to achieve this.