Australians Alicia Smith and Alana Parnaby are two of nine women who have been selected for the WTA Coach Inclusion Program in partnership with Tennis Australia.
Melbourne, VIC, Australia, 23 October 2024 | Nadia Dimattina
Australians Alicia Smith and Alana Parnaby are two of nine women who have been selected for the WTA Coach Inclusion Program in partnership with Tennis Australia.
The Coach Inclusion Program is being expanded into the Asia Pacific region. The program is geared towards attracting, training, and developing women coaches, with the goal of breaking down barriers and providing opportunities for women entering professional tennis at the coaching level.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity to be able to learn from some of the best and I think female coaches are extremely unrepresented in our sport, in sport in general but if we are just looking at tennis – it’s a great chance to learn from the best and be in that environment and soak up as much information and all the experience that we can get,” Parnaby said.
As both current world-ranked players on tour, Parnaby and Smith will be navigating playing tennis while joining the coaching program.
“Coaching is something that I have done throughout my career – it is something that I do really enjoy and something I can see myself doing post playing so it was a great opportunity and the fact I can do it whilst I’m playing is even better,” Parnaby added.
As long-term friends and having completed coaching courses together in the past, the women are excited to be back together again for the WTA Coach Inclusion program.
“We have a lot of the same insights and views – and we are both hoping that after our careers that we can definitely make an impact but be able to end our careers on our terms and know we don’t have any regrets and have given it our all,” Smith said.
Parnaby explained how important it was to have female coaches throughout her tennis career and hopes she can be an inspiration for future generations joining the sport.
“I think back to my early days starting out playing tennis I was really fortunate that I so happened to have a couple of female coaches to coach me and support me during my early years and I think that was really pivotal in me playing the sport,” she said.
“That’s why I am so passionate about female coaches in our sport because I have had that and I really want to give other young girls that experience that I was…
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