The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge tried their hands at tennis on the last day of their Scottish tour, joining in on a session with the Lawn Tennis Association’s Youth project in Edinburgh.
The royals met with young people taking part in LTA Youth, a programme that will encourage young kids to play tennis by showing them the fun and the benefits of the sport. Kate, who is Patron of the Lawn Tennis Association and regularly attends Wimbledon, is particularly interested in encouraging young people to take up the sport and has attended youth workshops in the past.
William and Kate arrived at Craiglockhart Tennis Centre in Edinburgh after a morning engagement with Fields in Trust to view three drills and exercises for the students from Canal View Primary School, and then joined in on the teams to play three games that taught progressive skills for tennis.
The Duchess of Cambridge said about the LTA Youth programme, “The thing is with children is to give them confidence. You don’t need a fantastic tennis court and greatest kit. It’s about making tennis accessible to all kids.”
The Cambridges played against each other on teams—with Kensington Palace’s Twitter account cheekily posting afterwards that “Team Duke” was the winner—and William could be heard praising a youngster’s skills, “Very good, brilliant shot.”
The royals also met with LTA’s Chief Executive, Scott Lloyd, and its Participation Director, Olly Scadgell, to discuss the programme and how it was created to “develop key character qualities such as perseverance, resilience and respect which complement the PSHE curriculum,” according to Kensington Palace.
William also asked about some scouting for new tennis talent, asking Scadgill, “How are you bringing on a new Andy or Jamie Murray?”
The youngsters in attendance were each gifted an LTA Youth tennis racket to encourage them to keep playing, and afterwards, Lloyd said in a statement on the LTA’s website that: “It was great to be able to show Their Royal Highnesses our new junior tennis programme first hand. LTA Youth is designed to be fun, inclusive and competitive and help children enjoy tennis whatever their age.”
