Tennis in Scotland is to benefit from a £15M ($18.5M) funding drive to "double the number of indoor courts to 225 within the decade and boost participation," according to the BBC. Lawn Tennis Association CEO Michael Downey said that it was time to "seize the moment" and capitalize on Andy and Jamie Murray's success. Downey: "We must create a lasting legacy with a purpose-built plan for Scotland." He added, "This unprecedented investment will make tennis more accessible, bringing certainty of play to a climate that sees on average 200 days rain a year and in a country that is under-resourced versus the rest of Britain and other European nations when it comes to the number of covered tennis courts per capita." Sportscotland Chair Mel Young confirmed that half of the £15M will come from sportscotland and the rest from the LTA and will "have a transformational impact on Scottish tennis" (BBC, 12/20). In London, Stuart Fraser reported Young added, "This is terrific news which represents a great opportunity to further develop tennis in Scotland, and we are delighted to be working with the LTA to deliver this £15 million investment in facilities." This announcement has been "a long time coming." For more than a decade, Judy Murray, a former Scottish national coach and the mother of Andy and Jamie, has "repeatedly stressed the need for more indoor facilities." Tennis Scotland’s hands "have been tied to some extent" with yearly funding from the LTA of around £800,000 ($989,000). Considering that the LTA’s annual revenue is more than £60M ($74.2M), boosted by the Wimbledon surplus of around £35M ($43.3M), this figure was "seen as paltry by many of those involved with the sport in Scotland." An "immediate target area for indoor facilities under the new agreement must be the north of the country." Inverness, one of Europe’s "fastest growing cities with a population of around 50,000," has no indoor courts and parents of young tennis players "have had to travel" for more than two hours down the A9, one of the U.K.’s "most treacherous roads in the winter," to facilities in Gleneagles and Stirling (LONDON TIMES, 12/20).
