Ash Barty retired from the tennis tour while still World No. 1.
That was March of 2022. Since that time, she has married, had two children, and become involved with several creative and community projects.
A few months after her retirement, Barty released the first six of a children’s book series called Little Ash, inspired by her niece and nephew. She co-wrote the books with Jasmin McGaughey, and Jade Goodwin contributed the illustrations.
Later that year, at the age of 26, Barty produced an autobiography called My Dream Time. The book became a best seller, with sales considerably surpassing the biographies of popular cricketers Ricky Pointing and Adam Gilchrist.
Then she launched the 2022 National Indigenous Tennis Carnival for young First Nations players, and has continued to be involved in the annual event.
Last year, through her AB Foundation, she donated 16,000 books to libraries around Australia as part of Book Week. As well, more of her own literary efforts were published, the two Ash Barty: Tennis Camp Diaries volumes and My Dream for You, a story about a mother’s hopes for her new baby. And the Little Ash series stretched to 12.
She now has a new mission in her retirement – the Ash Barty Schools Challenge.
As a player, Barty won three grand slam tournaments – one on each surface – Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and her home slam, the Australian Open. She held the No. 1 ranking for 121 weeks. So she obviously has skills and knowledge to pass on to the next generation of players.
Photo: Tennis Australia
“I have been fortunate in my journey,” Barty says, “but not all kids have that same experience…
“Tennis has given me so much joy and opportunity and I want to share that with kids across the country.”
The inaugural Ash Barty Schools Challenge encourages primary school students “to pick up a racquet, get active and have fun with tennis”. To enter, teachers submit photos or videos of their students using tennis equipment “in fun and engaging ways” to win book prizes for the school and for a chance to win a personal visit from Barty. So far, more than 2800 primary schools across Australia have delivered tennis programs and entered the Challenge.
For Barty, the reason for the Schools Challenge is simple. “My purpose, in everything I do, is to help young Australians discover their passion and follow their dreams. I hope this challenge will help inspire more boys and girls to try tennis and fall in love with the sport as I did.”
Title photo of Ash Barty and school children by Tennis Australia