A SPORTS star’s mother visited Winchester as part of a project to encourage young girls to play tennis.

Judy Murray, mother of tennis legend Andy Murray, spent five hours training 24 female coaches at Winchester Racquets and Fitness last week.

It was part of Coaching Hampshire and Isle of Wight’s Project 500 initiative which wants to see the number of female coaches across all sports increased.

It was also the first south east Miss Hits session– a division of the programme encouraging girls aged five to eight to get involved in tennis by learning through characters.

Judy said: “Coaching has long been considered a male domain. It’s time to change that and Project 500 is leading the way.”

The scheme works with women of all abilities and those who may not be from tennis backgrounds.