THE MOTHER of a Scots tennis ace has revealed she has one “big goal” to leave behind her legacy.
Judy Murray is planning to build the Murray Tennis Centre for Scotland.
The mother of world number two Andy Murray, says a new centre would make tennis “accessible” and “affordable” to all.
Murray is currently trying to find a site for the centre near Dunblane, where her sons first played tennis.
Despite planning for the centre, costs may prove too much for her project.
It has been estimated that to establish the publicly accessible tennis centre she has planned could cost more than £15m in initial funding.
The 53-year-old has previously spoken about the lack of tennis facilities in Scotland.
A number of public tennis courts across the country have been demolished or left in disrepair.
The mother of two won 64 titles as a player in the 1970s, and has been coaching for more than 25 years.
She has often been praised for developing the talents of her two sons; Andy and Jamie.
Now the coach of Britain’s Fed Cup team, Murray would like to pass on her decades of knowledge.
She said: “This is my big goal. I want it to be something to leave behind. It would absolutely kill me if Andy finished his career in five years’ time of whenever and we didn’t have much to show for it here in Scotland. The opportunity is there. I’ve got to do it.
“Ideally, the centre would be somewhere near Dunblane. The town and its surroundings are where it all started for me, so I’d want the community and families to be right at the heart of it.
“We have this huge opportunity in Scotland. Tennis has gone through the roof and every kid in every primary school will know something about tennis and Andy. But I don’t think tennis in Scotland has been able to capitalise on the profile, because we have insufficient facilities or an insufficient tennis workforce.
“Andy has been in the world top five for five years now. He has been in a number of Slam finals and has won the Olympics. Yet in all that time there have been just two new indoor tennis courts in Scotland – both at private clubs.
“Former, that is very sad. Right now in Scotland we have this huge opportunity, but thus far we haven’t taken it.
“If you asked me if there was one big thing I would like to do, this is it: to establish a tennis base for teaching, coaching and playing.
“It would be a legacy in people, who could share knowledge and knowhow of teaching kids to play and love tennis. And I’d want it to be a centre where tennis was accessible and affordable to all.
“Ideally it would be a community club, with a team of people and a mobile outreach programme, so you could send coaches out to schools, clubs and rural communities.”
Last year Murray slammed a lack of PE in school for creating “overweight” youngsters.
