WEBVTT - Judy Murray on revolutionising British women's tennis (The Sit-Down)

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<v Speaker 1>It was interesting you said it was quite stressful for

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<v Speaker 1>you when I like that really top level, high level

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<v Speaker 1>intensity and being the hunter not the hunter anymore. But

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<v Speaker 1>you still were the British Fed Cup captain for five years,

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<v Speaker 1>so I'm assuming there were parts of the job that

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<v Speaker 1>you really enjoyed, particularly taking the British team from the

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<v Speaker 1>Zono groups. I think they got to the cusp of

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<v Speaker 1>the World Group or maybe playing off for it. So

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<v Speaker 1>what did you love about working with the top British

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<v Speaker 1>women's players in that time?

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<v Speaker 2>I think that you know, when I took the role on,

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<v Speaker 2>we were in the Euro Africa zone, and of course

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<v Speaker 2>I'd never done anything like that before. I had captain county

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<v Speaker 2>teams and I've obviously had captain the Scottish teams in

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<v Speaker 2>the friendly internationals. Things that we've had quite quite different,

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<v Speaker 2>so I didn't really know what was what I was

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<v Speaker 2>what I was getting into. But I know how to

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<v Speaker 2>build teams and I know how to bring people, to

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<v Speaker 2>bring people together. And we went over to Egypt to

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<v Speaker 2>Israel sorry for our first in February twenty twelve, and

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<v Speaker 2>there were sixteen teams in our group and we went

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<v Speaker 2>five days in advance of its starting There was only

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<v Speaker 2>one other team there with us that far in advance,

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<v Speaker 2>which was Estonia, and Estonia had one male coach and

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<v Speaker 2>four players. The four players stayed in one room, and

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<v Speaker 2>we had as a wealthy governing body of the LTA,

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<v Speaker 2>we had our fitness trainer, Visio. I took a video analyst.

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<v Speaker 2>I had to fight for that, but I got it.

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<v Speaker 2>We had a team room. Each of our players had

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<v Speaker 2>their own room, and we were able to be there

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<v Speaker 2>to prepare for four or five days before. And the

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<v Speaker 2>reason for going so far in advance of that for

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<v Speaker 2>me was building the team together. You know, I had

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<v Speaker 2>Laura Robson and Heather Watson as to eighteen and nineteen,

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<v Speaker 2>and An Kiothovong and Elena Baltasha, who were both coming

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<v Speaker 2>towards the end of their careers, sort of twenty nine,

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<v Speaker 2>twenty eight, twenty nine year olds and brilliant, brilliant, give

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<v Speaker 2>you everything, and the young ones were hugely exciting prospects.

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<v Speaker 2>But it, you know, it was it was actually a

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<v Speaker 2>really good mix and it worked incredibly well. But when

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<v Speaker 2>I went to pick a backroom staff to come with me,

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<v Speaker 2>this was probably sort of December time, and I went

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<v Speaker 2>down to the LTA, and I was really amazed to

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<v Speaker 2>discover that there was There were no female fitness trainers,

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<v Speaker 2>there were no female videos, there were no female video analysts,

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<v Speaker 2>and I was like, they didn't they just didn't exist.

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<v Speaker 2>It was it was all guys. And I took an

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<v Speaker 2>all male team and they were all great, But my

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<v Speaker 2>point was, why aren't there any women? You know, we're

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<v Speaker 2>women's team. I was the first female captain for many

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<v Speaker 2>many years. I'd always been male captains, and you know,

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<v Speaker 2>I set about asking questions and saying, look, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>when you're dealing with females emotions and females bodies especially,

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<v Speaker 2>we need some women in the workforce. I wasn't looking

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<v Speaker 2>for an all female team, Don't get me wrong. I wasn't,

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<v Speaker 2>but I set about doing something about that. And you know, now,

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<v Speaker 2>obviously it's nine years later, but we have female hydeos,

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<v Speaker 2>and we have female fitness trainers, and we have female

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<v Speaker 2>video analysts, and we have female managers who can come

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<v Speaker 2>and you know, and help to do all the logistics

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<v Speaker 2>and so forth. So I felt like as well as

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<v Speaker 2>trying to build the team, and you know, in bringing

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<v Speaker 2>a video analyst with us, none of our girls had

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<v Speaker 2>ever had their matches analyzed or been presented with video

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<v Speaker 2>analysis of an opponent before a match. Like for me,

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<v Speaker 2>I'd been doing that since two thousand and four in Scotland.

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<v Speaker 2>I taught myself how to do it and it's very

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<v Speaker 2>time consuming, but yes, really, it really really is. But

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<v Speaker 2>I taught myself how to do it because you know,

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<v Speaker 2>when I was a national coach, I had no resource,

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<v Speaker 2>so it was almost like, if I need to learn something,

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<v Speaker 2>we're going to have to learn it myself. But that

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<v Speaker 2>blew me away that you know, with the LTA, with

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<v Speaker 2>all of its you know, Grand Slam Nation and with

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<v Speaker 2>all of its huge budget, nobody was doing that. So anyway,

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<v Speaker 2>we did a lot of that. But in the five

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<v Speaker 2>days running up to that, we had a great time. Everything.

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<v Speaker 2>In the evening we played team games and it was

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<v Speaker 2>always the girls against the boys, always and that was

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<v Speaker 2>done on purpose to make us bond as a unit.

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<v Speaker 2>So you know, whether it was past the bomb or pittionary,

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<v Speaker 2>but we had honestly the best time and by the

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<v Speaker 2>time we got going, because nobody comes to watch in

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<v Speaker 2>those zones unless you're the home team, nobody comes to watch,

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<v Speaker 2>so you really have to make your own noise. We

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<v Speaker 2>had the drum kits and all the rest of it,

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<v Speaker 2>and freezing cold. If you had a night match, it

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<v Speaker 2>was just it was like playing a club match, a

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<v Speaker 2>lot of it. But we made our own noise and

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<v Speaker 2>we made a great team spirit and one of the

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<v Speaker 2>things that I was particularly proud of at the end

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<v Speaker 2>of that very first campaign. Yes, we got through into

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<v Speaker 2>a playoff for the World Group where we went to Sweden,

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<v Speaker 2>but and Kiothovani and Elena Batasha, who are exactly the

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<v Speaker 2>same year of birth, exactly the same age, came all

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<v Speaker 2>through juniors to huge arrivals and juniors they didn't speak

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<v Speaker 2>to each other. They would make a little bit of

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<v Speaker 2>an effort for fed Cup, or so I was told,

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<v Speaker 2>but they never spoke to each other. And actually by

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<v Speaker 2>the end of that fed Cup campaign, they were sitting

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<v Speaker 2>beside each other on the bus to the airport, they

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<v Speaker 2>sat beside each other on the flight home, and they

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<v Speaker 2>had agreed to play doubles together and to try to

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<v Speaker 2>get into the Olympics doubles together, which of course was

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<v Speaker 2>going to be in London in July, and for me

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<v Speaker 2>that was a massive success. But what definitely through that

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<v Speaker 2>period that I was fed cup. We created a great

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<v Speaker 2>support group of our women by telling them. And this

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<v Speaker 2>goes back to what I was saying about the small pond.

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<v Speaker 2>It's too easy to be rivals within a small pond.

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<v Speaker 2>I was saying to them, it is not about you

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<v Speaker 2>against you. This is about us together against the rest

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<v Speaker 2>of the world, and we all work together and we

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<v Speaker 2>support each other. Wherever your playing.

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<v Speaker 1>To catch the rest of this episode, you can find

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<v Speaker 1>the link to the full show in the show notes,

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<v Speaker 1>or by heading to the sit Down wherever you listen

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<v Speaker 1>to your podcasts, M