E.ON Next’s latest Kids in Sport event took place at St Patrick’s Primary School in Greenock.
Fifty-four pupils took part in the event, which was designed to widen horizons. Judy Murray was present, urging children to move, laugh and believe in themselves.
Blending Sport With Other Skills
Kids in Sport has travelled the UK over the past three years. It blends football, tennis, netball and motorsport with careers rarely associated with the sports field: STEM roles, medical pathways and energy innovation.
Pupils in Greenock rotated through workshops that developed public speaking, life-saving first aid skills, coding literacy and dynamic movement. They met role models, handled technology and saw sport not simply as something to play, but as an ecosystem of opportunity.
Judy Murray’s Perspective
Judy Murray said she is a huge believer in the power of sport, not only just for the obvious physical and mental benefits it brings, but also for the life skills that can be developed by being part of a sport.
“Schools are the places where children should be introduced to all sorts of different options – whether it’s sport, or whether it’s the arts, as well as obviously general education,” Judy added.
Inside St Patrick’s badminton court, Judy and her Miss-Hits coaching team created energy. Judy explained that so much of what they have done is about fun, making everything as challenging as possible and creating activities that develop the skills that you need to be able to play tennis.
She is clear that this isn’t only about producing future athletes.
More Than Just a Sports Day
This wasn’t about ticking off drills or chasing medals – it was about widening horizons.
The message is clear – sport is not only activity and exercise. It’s also a gateway with a huge amount of life skills to teach.
At the event, there were tennis balls fizzing across a badminton court, and nine-year-olds huddled over SPHERO balls, programming them through football-themed coding challenges.
Judy added: “So being able to bring a sport like tennis into a primary school and give lots of children across the course of the day to try it is incredibly important.”
We want kids to enjoy being active. We want them to fall in lov