BLANE Dodds, the chairman of Tennis Scotland, has appealed to local authorities, leisure trusts, schools and universities to buy into the Murray family legacy for tennis in Scotland after the LTA and sportscotland co-funded a historic £15m award for the sport north of the border. The money, which arrives after a lengthy political campaign and at a time when Andy Murray, Jamie Murray and wheelchair tennis star Gordon Reid can all call themselves the best in the world in their chosen disciplines, has been pledged to the organisation to double the number of indoor courts in Scotland from 112 to 225 over the next "five to ten" years. The organisation are also headhunting for a chief executive and advertising for a national coach but the next step is for other interested parties to contact the governing body with a view to tapping into this funding and being part of the future of Scottish tennis.
"When you look at the number of indoor tennis courts in Scotland, there is 112 but a number of them are commercial so they are not really open to the public," said Dodds. "So with this money, the £15m initial cost, we are inviting offers from visionary local authorities and leisure trusts, clubs, universities, schools, that we can partner up with on the ground to help deliver part of the Murray legacy. We would be delighted to hear from them so we can increase our capacity and deliver those opportunities." The funding plan, which has been welcomed by the Murray family, is separate from a proposed tennis and golf academy, incorporating a Murray museum, which is envisaged at the Park of Keir site near Dunblane.
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