Judy Murray believes female athletes have 'never had it so good', as she urged all involved to take advantage of what could be a ground-breaking era for women's sport.
The success of England's women's football squad, as well as the nation's cricket and rugby teams was backed up by the storming success of Great Britain's Fed Cup tennis team last weekend, as Anne Keothavong's squad, led by Johanna Konta and Katie Boulter, qualified for the World Group of the competition for the first time in 26 years.
A change of mood has also been evident in the media, with female football pundits sharing TV screens with their male counterparts for the first time this season, while the eagerness of the sports media to embrace change was highlighted on Wednesday, when journalist Carrie Brown was appointed to the prestigious role of Chairperson of England's Football Writers' Association.
It's a catalogue of success that inspired sporting super-mum Murray to suggest this is now a moment for women's sport to 'seize the moment', as she sat down with Female First for an exclusive interview while hosting coaching lessons at The Campus, Quinta do Lago, in the Algarve.
"There has been a groundswell behind women's sport for some time now and the world-class performances from the women's football, rugby, cricket, hockey, netball teams and with our fantastic Fed Cup tennis squad has helped that," began the mother of three-time Grand Slam winning tennis icon Andy Murray, and his six-time Grand Slam winning brother Jamie.
"The profile of women's sport has never been higher than it is right now and it feels like there has been something of a breakthrough in the way the media are willing to embrace women's sport in the last year or so.
"All the publicity in sport has tended to be focused on male athletes, but I have always felt that it didn't need to be like that and it needs some attitudes to change and maybe also the quality of the sport being offered up by female performers as well.
"Funding for women's sport has always tended to be less than male sports, but we have started investing in female sports and as a result, performance levels have been rising. The quality of what we are seeing from our female sports stars now will draw people to watch, as well as inspiring more to play and hopefully attracting more sponsors.
"We saw the Women's Super League in football sign a big sponsorship deal a few weeks back and that is what we need to see more of because financial investment is vital to raising standards both on the field and in the organisation of a sport that can be so vital to encourage success."
Murray has been driving a campaign to encourage more women to take on the challenge of tennis coaching, as she suggests girls need to be bold to take on senior roles in sport.
"We have some momentum behind women's sport now, but we need to build on that and keep our foot on the gas," she added. "There is a real chance to move women's sport forward across so many areas and we have to take advantage of the opportunity that has now presented itself.
"Those of us who are involved in women's sport at whatever level need to speak up and make sure we take advantage of this momentum because we've never had it as good as this. We need to seize this moment.
"I want to see more females in prominent roles in top sporting organisations and we also need to get more females to take on the challenge of coaching in all sports.
"Coaching remains a male-dominated world and that does not encourage girls to play sport or set their sights on coaching, but there is no reason why we cannot change those attitudes if we have some good role models ready to step forward and make a difference."
Judy Murray will be hosting more tennis lessons at The Campus, Quinta do Lago, in Portugal this August. More information here - https://www.quintadolago.com/en/the-campus/tennis-camps/
Words by Kevin Palmer, who you can follow on Twitter @RealKevinPalmer.
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