There are many challenges in British women’s tennis, despite the recent successes of our top players. There are so few girls taking up the sport, and many who do drop out for various reasons along the way.
The youngest girls are forced to compete in tournaments against boys due to a lack of fellow female competitors, and those who access coaching often do so surrounded by boys with male coaches. It’s no surprise that tennis is unappealing to so many young girls.
For those girls who do persevere, they progress into a system that funds more boys than girls and provides more competitive opportunities for boys than girls. Not only is the participation problem not addressed, but it is exasperated by policies such as these. Once they reach the age of 16-18, the drop out is staggering.
GB Tennis Girls works hard to highlight these issues, campaign for change, and, where possible, run specific initiatives to tackle them head on.
