TENNIS coach Judy Murray was in Bolton inspiring young females to become future champions with the first of a series of national initiatives.

The mother of world No.3 player Andy Murray and captain of the British Fed Cup Team was passing on her skills to talented local players aged 13 to 17 at the USN Bolton Arena, an International High Performance Centre for tennis.

Mrs Murray explained that the 13 to 17 age-group was when girls often went out of tennis, and out of sport generally, and the one-day tennis camps being organised helped to address this trend.

They were aimed at county level players to help build strong national squads for the future “to keep them playing and learning and wanting to improve,” she explained.

The camps also involve local female tennis coaches “to help create a bigger and better tennis workforce to grow the game and create a stronger female tennis nation,” added Mrs Murray.

There were 18 girls and four tennis coaches at the Bolton camp. Suzi Riley, Head of Performance Tennis at the Arena, commented: “It was an extremely valuable day. The girls got a lot out of it – there were smiles all day!”