Judy Murray wants PE to be made school priority and calls for much bigger presence of women in sporting workforce

Tennis coach Judy Murray has called for a much bigger presence of women in sporting workforce after announcing an expansion of a scheme designed to keep girls active.

The Scottish tennis coach said participating in sport helped develop crucial life skills such as leadership, resilience and communication while providing benefits to youngsters' physical and mental health.

The mother of tennis players Jamie and Sir Andy Murray, called for young people to get at least 40 minutes of exercise a day, saying physical literacy is just as important as numerical and alphabetical literacy.

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It comes as she announces an expansion to her Learn to Lead scheme, which aims to equip and empower young girls to become Scotland's next generation of sporting leaders, supporting them to run their own lunchtime and after-school clubs.

Following an investment from Sky, the scheme will now be available in 50 more schools.

A recent report commissioned by the broadcaster found that girls aged 11-18 miss out on 280 million hours of sport every year compared to boys.

It also found that playing sport as a child was as strong an indicator of future success as earning a university degree.

Ms Murray returned on Tuesday to Dunblane Primary School, the school both she and her sons attended as youngsters.

"We started Learn to Lead in June with twenty-five schools. The schools have to have a teacher who is happy to supervise the older girls - primary P6s and P7s - to lead fun lunchtime clubs and after school clubs, so it's a great way to learn leadership skills in older girls within a sporting context in the school environment and it's a great way to introduce little girls to starter tennis," Murray told Sky Sports.

As well as encouraging active lifestyles, Murray said she wants her programme to help girls build confidence and take on leadership roles.

She continued: "It's so much about building confidence in the older girls to lead because we need a much bigger presence of women in the sporting workforce in general. If we can start that process in primary school, where they are comfortable with younger children, then hopefully some of these are our sporting leaders of the future."

Murray, who is a believer in the power of sport, added: "We also want to create opportunities to build confidence and self-esteem before they move up to secondary school.

"Leadership opportunities for young people are few and far between. For me, the opportunities to first begin developing my leadership skills came from school and having the opportunity to captain my school tennis and hockey teams.

"It's through this that I started to develop my communication skills, learning how to identify strengths and weaknesses, and how best to get my teams working together.

"The life skills you develop from being part of sport are second to none and really help you to prepare for what adulthood will throw at you."

Sky chief sports officer, Jonathan Licht said: "As the UK's leading investor in women's sport, we are committed to using our platform to grow visibility and boost grassroots participation.

"The Game Changing report released earlier this year highlights the vital role that sport plays in developing confidence, communication, and teamwork skills that extend far beyond the court.

"We're proud to support Judy Murray's Learn to Lead initiative to double the number of schools involved, giving more girls the opportunity and resources to engage in sport and help create the next generation of female leaders."

What is learn to lead?

Since launching in June 2025, Learn to Lead is training teachers to support the classes in 25 schools across Scotland. With the additional funding from Sky, another 50 schools can be part of the programme.

Learn to Lead is an initiative aimed at P6 and P7 girls (10-12 years), equipping and encouraging them to become coaches of their own lunchtime or after school tennis clubs.

Although a teacher or activity coordinator will be required to support youngsters, it will be the pupils leading younger girls in activities as well as organising the sessions and setting up.

Judy Murray's Learn to Lead team will hold training sessions in schools ahead of the launch of each club, as well as providing videos, lesson plans and equipment.

Learn to Lead follows on from Judy Murray's Miss Hits programme, which was first introduced in 2014 as a way of encouraging young girls into tennis in the UK.

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