Women In Tennis
Women in
Tennis
The Women in Tennis Programme was established in 2019 and is funded by Sport Ireland's Women in Sport Unit. This programme focuses on four key areas — driving real, lasting change for women across Irish tennis.
Although there is an even split between male and female tennis players in Ireland, work still needs to be done to close the gender gap in tennis coaching (30% female) and tennis officiating (35% female). Having a dedicated Women in Tennis programme ensures that support and resources can be directed to close the gender gaps that exist in tennis.
Sport Ireland have lots of resources in relation to Women in Sport which can be accessed here.
By the Numbers
Women's Try Tennis
- The Women's Try Tennis Programme aims to make tennis affordable and accessible for women who are beginners or who haven't played the sport in a number of years.
- The aim is to encourage women to join a club or continue taking lessons once they have completed the programme.
- The programme usually runs between 4–8 weeks where participants learn the basic skills and rules of the game.
- We can offer funding towards the programme, and a club or LSP also typically contributes funding to keep the cost as low as possible for participants. All coaches must be licensed with Tennis Ireland in order to receive funding.
- In 2025, over 425 women took part in 51 programmes nationwide. In addition to these programmes, 476 girls and women participated in 20 Women's Try Tennis sessions. In 2024, over 270 women took part in 28 Women's Try Tennis Programmes across the country. The current club joiner rate and participants who continue to play on community courts is 69%.
Court Bosses
- In line with Sport Ireland's Women in Sport Policy, Tennis Ireland is committed to supporting female tennis coaches.
- Female tennis coaches are offered a partial reimbursement of their coaching fee once a female coach has completed all necessary training, assignments and practicals.
- In 2024, Tennis Ireland offered €6K to female coaches to support their development. In 2025, we offered €17K to female coaches to ensure that the numbers of female tennis coaches in Ireland continue to increase. We have continued this initiative in 2026 and have offered reimbursements to female coaches completing Level 1 and Level 2.
Tennis Ireland & Monthlies Organics
In keeping with Sport Ireland's Women in Sport Policy, we are committed to making sure that women and girls of all ages can take part in sport without barriers.
We know that periods, incontinence and period poverty can prevent women and girls from playing, and we don't want a lack of sanitary products to be the reason that up to half of our playing community miss out on tennis.
Between November 2025 – March 2026, Tennis Ireland launched a pilot programme which enabled every affiliated club on the island of Ireland to order a free box of sanitary products for their members. 97 clubs registered for this scheme with over 38,000 products being delivered to tennis clubs nationwide.
Women in Racket Sports
- Women in Racket Sports is a joint initiative between Tennis Ireland, Table Tennis Ireland, Badminton Ireland and Squash Ireland to support the development of female coaches and leaders within all four sports. Our inaugural event was held at Carlow Lawn Tennis Club in April 2024, where Chloe Magee (3× Olympian) spoke about her own experience of transitioning from professional athlete to coach. 70 women and girls of all ages had the opportunity to try badminton, table tennis, squash and tennis.
- In 2025, we held a similar event at Galway LTC to coincide with International Women's Day, and a further event in Ballyconnell, Cavan in late September 2025.
- In March 2026, we hosted our 4th iteration of this initiative at the Mardyke Arena in Cork, in partnership with Cork LSP. We were privileged to welcome Marie Gleeson as our guest speaker, followed by a networking event and an opportunity for over 80 girls and women to try all four sports. New
Billie Jean King Cup Roadshow
- In June, members of Ireland's Billie Jean King Cup Team attended St Olaf's National School for a meet and greet session with pupils before their tournament in Moldova.
- The pupils got to meet players including Sinéad Lohan and Breda Brennan, as well as Team Captain John McGahon. Coach Karrie Murphy was also on hand to facilitate the day.
Women in Sport Week 2026 Updated
- 300 secondary school girls took part in a Her Moves Exercise Energise Day at the Sport Campus, in partnership with Fingal County Council.
- 65 women availed of low-cost tennis lessons across the country during Women in Sport Week.
- Tennis Ireland staff attended several webinars during the week focused on Women in Sport at all levels.
- Sport Ireland launched their Gender Balance in Irish Sports Media report, which found that women's sport accounted for only 18% of sports news coverage in 2025.
Her Moves – Serve Swap
- Her Moves is a Sport Ireland initiative designed to inspire and support more teenage girls to be physically active.
- Tennis Ireland's Her Moves initiative – Serve Swap – combines social tennis and sustainability by swapping pre-loved items with one another.
- Her Moves is all about "finding something that moves you" and encouraging teenage girls to participate in physical activity in a fun, supportive and non-competitive environment.
Women in Sport Policies
Webinars
Get Involved
For more information on Women in Tennis or how you and your club can get involved, please contact National Coordinator for Women in Tennis, Aoife O'Sullivan.
