Scottish Women & Girls In Sport Week 2024: The ex-football referee who’s inspiring girls into tennis
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As a former Champions League football referee, Morag Pirie is used to managing people, being nice when needed, and also firm but fair. Ideal qualities for a tennis coach, so it’s no surprise to learn how she’s inspired so many young girls into the sport.
Morag runs Prime Video LTA Youth Girls sessions in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, offering girls-only beginner tennis lessons which are packed with games and exercises to build confidence and skills on court, all while having fun with friends.
Speaking to mark Scottish Women & Girls In Sport Week, which runs from 30 September to 6 October, Morag said: “There have been many memorable moments that make it worthwhile, like the girl who said she’d never stop playing tennis because she loved the sessions.”
As her FIFA refereeing career neared its end in 2017, Morag began searching for a new sport to keep active and headed along to the local Udny Tennis Club to see if she was any good. After serving up a fault by turning up with a child’s tennis racket, she soon gained a love for the sport and hasn’t looked back since.
She said: “As a child, I had horrendous co-ordination and couldn’t hit, kick, catch or throw anything, so I wasn’t sure I could even play tennis. I went along to try out the beginner lessons, got laughed at and told to get an adult racket. However, the people were really nice and I enjoyed the lessons so I joined the club and met lots of really nice people and started to get a lot better at playing tennis.”
Morag, 49, soon became a qualified coach and decided to focus her efforts on increasing participation among young girls at Udny and nearby Ellon Tennis Club. “I did Easter camps to start with, which were really successful,” she said. “I had eight girls in the first class, and they all loved the sessions and took-up the offer of follow-on courses.
“I have a friend through the club who’s a PE teacher at a girls’ school in Aberdeen, so when Prime Video LTA Youth Girls was advertised, I thought the school might allow me to use their courts for girls-only sessions. The school was really supportive and helped advertise the sessions to pupils and children in the surrounding areas.
“The girls-only sessions seemed to work because there’s a good vibe and possibly less pressure on the girls in terms of feeling less self-conscious and more relaxed.”
Morag has found running the sessions a rewarding experience and has seen girls develop not just their tennis skills but their confidence too.
She said: “The girls are keen to try new things and want to do well in each activity. It’s really good to see them learn and get better at tennis. They might not notice sometimes, but I can see a difference in their abilities after only a few months; their co-ordination, movement and how they work with others.
“Several girls were really quiet and shy when they started the classes, but are now coming out of their shell and interacting well with girls they didn’t know before. They are more chatty and they talk to me about what they’ve been doing, which is nice.”
While there are a few similarities to refereeing footballers at the highest level, Morag has noticed one big difference when it comes to coaching children on the tennis court: “People actually say ‘thank you’ after a tennis lesson, but not very often after a football match.”
