(Reuters) - The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) wants to double the number of women tennis coaches in Britain to 1,600 in the next five years and their ambitious goal has received the backing of former Fed Cup captain Judy Murray.
Speaking at the Women's Coach Conference organised by the LTA in Birmingham, Murray said that she wanted to see more women take up coaching positions in tennis.
"I believe that girls respond better to female role models, and the LTA want to see more female coaches who can encourage girls to take up, and stay in, sport," Murray said.
"Women coaches are particularly good at working together, networking and sharing ideas. Today's environment lays the perfect foundation for them to do all of that."
As many as 200 women tennis coaches were present at the conference.
"My coaches were absolutely essential in keeping me engaged, inspired and motivated to reach the maximum of my potential, and it's fantastic to see the LTA staging events to invest in their coaches," UK Sport chair Katherine Grainger said.
"It's important the LTA maximises the success of their players to get more people, and particularly women and girls, involved in the sport," the former Olympic champion rower added.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
