The Lawn Tennis Association’s first female president believes guiding Michael Owen and Sol Campbell through their GCSEs can help her support Britain’s top tennis stars.
Cathie Sabin was confirmed as the first woman president in the LTA’s 125-year history at this week’s AGM at London’s National Tennis Centre.
The 66-year-old former deputy head and PE teacher taught a host of future England international footballers during her time at Idsall School.
The FA’s Lilleshall School of Excellence pupils attended Idsall School for their academic rigour, falling under the wing of Sabin and her history teacher husband John.
Sabin believes helping those young footballing hopefuls thrive off as well as on the field can now colour her LTA stewardship.
She said: “It took some adjustment for some of the boys, it was quite different from what they were used to for some of them.
“We certainly didn’t coach them at football of course, but in terms of any other sports they picked up the skills extremely quickly.
“Certainly, Michael Owen was lovely, Jermaine Defoe was great fun and Sol Campbell always had stature, but he was a very caring person.”
Women’s role
Sabin hopes her groundbreaking appointment can pave the way for a new generation of female administrators within the sport.
Paying tribute to LTA Fed Cup captain Judy Murray, Sabin said it is vital young women have visible role models at top level tennis.
She said: “Judy’s just inspirational and charismatic, in her hands-on work, on the court with her experience, and also how she is off the court too.
“I suppose I’ve got the experience of teaching young people, helping them reach their potential and overcome obstacles and problems, and I hope I can harness that.
Sport England will release their latest Active People Survey (APS) figures this week.
The LTA needs 450,000 people playing tennis once a week to lay claim to £10.3 million Sport England withheld after the previous APS figures failed to meet the target.
The LTA will make a presentation to Sport England on December 19 on their renewed “participation strategy”, ex-pecting a decision on that funding in January.