Margot Carter
Director of Tennis, USTA Florida
Vero Beach, Florida
What woman in tennis history has most inspired you to be the coach you are today?
I had been asked to help run a one day camp and bring some of the children I was coaching. The male coach in charge proceeded to demonstrate and lead the kids through the warmup exercises. After each exercise, he had a different coach demonstrate the next exercise.
I waited for my turn to demo a warmup exercise, but it never came. The three little girls that I was coaching ran up to me and asked why I had not been asked to demonstrate a warmup exercise. Whether you realise it or not, people, especially children, are seeing and being affected by our actions, which ultimately will also affect the type of people they become in the future. This story always sits in the back of my mind as a female in a position of leadership and influence, and so, in short, most of my inspiration comes from those three little girls.
If you could have a one-on-one coaching session with any female legend from the past 50 years, who would it be and what one question would you ask her?
I would like to have dinner with Queen Elizabeth II and I would like to hear her stories of how she worked with Winston Churchill. It may be from a TV show, but the line in “The Crown” where she talks to Churchill for the first time and opens the conversation with, “I would ask you to consider your response in light of the respect that my rank and my office deserve, not that which my age and gender might suggest” is highly motivational for me!
What’s the one piece of advice you find yourself repeating most to uplift your players?
Think in solutions. Actionable solutions are uplifting. Thinking about the problem itself doesn’t help you resolve the problem
If you could send a postcard to every young girl picking up a racquet for the first time today, what would it say?
Embrace the hustle and enjoy the ride. Don’t get hung up on results.
What’s your power song before a big match or practice?
Queen, “Don’t Stop Me Now.”
