The sportswoman of the moment

We find out some fun facts about UK tennis superstar and BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2021 Emma Raducanu and learn about the LTA's new junior programme to help more children enjoy tennis.

MMA Raducanu is

EBritain's first female grand slam winner since 1977 and the first qualifier to reach a Grand Slam final who shot to international fame at

Wimbledon 2021.

Emma has shared her top travel essentials, hidden talents, favourite food and guilty pleasures with the

LTA (the Governing Body of tennis in GB). She is a star of British tennis who came up through the LTA’s pro-scholarship programme and is an LTA Youth Ambassador.

Emma is a huge inspiration to the next generation of tennis players and visited her old school

Bickley Primary School in Bromley,

Kent last year to take part in the

LTA Youth programme with the students.

LTA YOUTH

One The LTA recently launched LTA Youth, a new and innovative junior programme aimed at kids aged four18 created to help more children enjoy the benefits of playing and staying in tennis, whatever their age, gender, ability, disability or background. The programme is a significant stepchange for children’s tennis in Britain, providing kids fun, action-packed sessions with a range of activities designed to help them develop skills for life, on and off the court.

Created with world-leading expertise, LTA Youth coaching programme offers a fresh modern approach to tennis in schools, clubs and parks. This builds significantly on the success of previous LTA initiatives, such as Tennis for Kids and Team Challenge, to create a clear path that supports kids’ enjoyment of tennis, progression and an informal competitive environment within which kids will thrive.

LTA Youth coaching programme offers a fresh modern approach to tennis in schools, clubs and parks

Backed by research

The development of LTA Youth is driven by the insight that children’s physical literacy is deteriorating, and there are growing concerns over declining physical activity amongst children.1

This has been amplified during the pandemic with the percentage of kids taking part in daily sport falling from 46.8% to 19%. 2 As outdoor tennis begins to re-open across Britain, now is the prime time for children to enjoy LTA’s new youth coaching programmes in school and recreation. For education settings, LTA Youth Schools’ content has been specifically created to develop key character qualities such as perseverance, resilience and respect which complement the school sports curriculum.

HAPPIER AND HEALTHIER

The LTA is striving to help young people live happier and healthier lives, with a target of inspiring 10% of children in Britain to play tennis once a week by 2023.

More than just learning tennis, LTA Youth helps them develop a whole range of physical and neurological abilities including balance, coordination and fine motor skills, with activities involving decision-making and strengthening hand-eye coordination. These are core skills that will help set kids up for life, not just for tennis, developing them as both players and people.

Emma’s dream doubles partner is Andy Murray

Sam Richardson, LTA Head of Tennis Products and Programmes, says: “Playing tennis, no matter your age, ability, of how often you get on court, is one of the best ways to improve your balance, mind power and lightning moves – but we don’t often think about how those skills can level up other areas of your life. With the pandemic having a real impact on how active children have been, we’re proud to offer an insight-led, world-class programme that gets kids active, develops fundamental motor skills and supports athletic development to ensure children progress, compete and enjoy the game. LTA Youth has all of this; it’s all about instilling confidence on and off the court.”

Top British tennis talent are also showing their support for the programme and its positive impact. Emma Raducanu and rising tennis star Paul Jubb, and double Paralympic medallist Lucy Shuker will all be supporting LTA Youth throughout the year.

The LTA is the national governing body for tennis for Great Britain. Visit the LTA Youth website (lta. org.uk/youth-programme) for more information.

SOURCES

1. Physical Literacy Study, Hawthorn Press 2018 2. Sport England, 2020

Emma’s top travel essentials for when she’s on tour playing tennis include:

1. A disposable camera, which helps her reflect on the memories of the trip. 2. A lacrosse ball that she uses to administer physiotherapy on her upper body and help ease any aches and pains. Emma says she uses this the most on her pec due to practising her serves. 3. Dark chocolate and peanut butter “which is an absolute must, I take it everywhere”. Emma is known to satisfy her sweet tooth with dark chocolate daily and “could eat peanut butter with everything”. 4. As we have all seen when she’s walked out onto court at Wimbledon, pre-match she hypes herself up by listening to energetic music with good beats.

DID YOU KNOW?

Emma’s guilty pleasure is bingewatching Taiwanese shows on Netflix Her hidden talent is she speaks Mandarin Emma’s icon is Michael Jordan Her favourite artists are Jean-Michel Basquiat and Alec Monopoly Emma’s favourite food is Lam yong, Korean and Korean BBQ If Emma wasn’t a tennis player she would like to be a lawyer, as she says: “I like arguing back a lot and talking back a little bit!” Emma’s dream doubles partner is Andy Murray and one of her favourite sporting moments was hitting a lob winner against Andy Murray in mixed doubles. Off-court Emma follows F1 closely, never missing the highlights.