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Nicole Pratt, former Australian No.1 and world No.35, has taken on a new role at Tennis Australia, having been appointed Females in Tennis – Coach Lead.

This role will focus on attracting, developing and retaining female coaches at all levels to grow the number of female coaches by 10% over the next three years.

Pratt is one of the few female coaches who has worked consistently on the professional tour, with athletes including Casey Dellacqua, Daria Gavrilova and Storm Sanders. She continues to coach at a high performance level as Australia’s Billie Jean King Cup coach.

Pratt  advises “I’m passionate about getting more female coaches working with players of all ages and at all levels, and I’m excited about this new opportunity.

“At the top level, tennis leads the sporting world in gender equality with equal prize money at the Grand Slams. But like many other sports, it’s an ongoing challenge to keep girls engaged, particularly when they hit their teenage years.

“Closing the gender gap at the participation level is vital to the ongoing success of our sport, and we know that having more women involved in coaching is one of the keys to keeping girls involved in tennis.

“I’m looking forward to creating more opportunities for females in tennis coaching.”

To provide opportunities for females to gain valuable experience in coaching talented performance players, three Scholarship Coaches have been appointed – Emily Burns (Queensland), Jessica Moore (New South Wales) and Genevieve Lorbergs (Victoria).

These new roles are part of the federally-funded Females in Tennis initiative announced at the Australian Open in 2019.

Highly-experienced tennis administrator and coach educator, Andrea Buckeridge also moves into a new role as Project Manager – Women and Girls. Buckeridge will oversee the federal funding provided to Tennis Australia to improve participation rates and representation for women and girls in tennis.

Tennis Australia Chief Executive, Craig Tiley notes “I’m very pleased we have Nicole leading the charge to recruit more female coaches, part of our broader strategy to increase the participation of girls and women in the sport, and to help attract and retain more female coaches.

“I’d like to congratulate Emily, Jess and Genevieve on their well-deserved coaching scholarships. I’m proud we are able to offer them this opportunity, which will also make them great role models for girls and women playing our sport.

“Andrea Buckeridge has a wealth of experience in so many areas of both sport and education. Her leadership skills will make a significant contribution to the success of the Females in Tennis project.”

Image courtesy of Tennis Australia 

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