Judy Murray OBE will tonight receive the 'Lifetime Achievement' award at the 2019 UK Coaching Awards in London.

Mother of British tennis stars Andy and Jamie, Judy started her own journey in the sport as a Scottish international before becoming the sole volunteer coach in her hometown of Dunblane. 

She was the first female to pass the LTA's highest-level qualification, the 'Performance Coach Award' and went on to become captain of Britain's Fed Cup team as well as nurturing the development of several British No 1's, including Elena Baltacha.

Over the last eight years she has invested her time in a tennis starter programme for girls, Miss-Hits which has now been delivered globally, helping thousands of girls get into tennis.

In conjunction with the LTA, she developed the 'She Rallies' programme which creates more opportunities for women and girls to play tennis in the UK, while her Tennis on the Road programme looks to increase the coaching workforce that the sport could not survive without. 

In 2018 she also launched The Judy Murray Foundation in a bid to bring tennis into rural and disadvantaged inner-city communities in Scotland.

She described receiving the award as a 'massive honour', then added: "I’ve experienced every step of the coaching journey from local community club right up to Grand Slams, Olympics and Fed Cup, so I understand the importance of having great coaches at every stage and every level of the game."

Her focus is on the grassroots level of the game in a hope to increase participation from the bottom up but also with a focus on making the sporting environment 'fun and stimulating'.

“My philosophy is all about creating games and exercises that do the teaching for you because I learned from bringing up my own kids that they don’t want to listen to you, they just want to play with you. That’s why I say skills before drills. And make it fun so they want to come back - no matter what age or stage they are.” 

Scott Lloyd, CEO of the LTA added his congratulations saying: "We're hugely proud of everything she has achieved, not only as a coach herself but also the impact that she has had inspiring other coaches in communities across the country.

He added: "There is no one more deserving of this award."