Kids keen to take centre court

BALLKID tryouts for the Australian Open were held last weekend at the Ballarat Regional Tennis Centre.

Saturday saw the first of two rounds of try outs where hopefuls aged 12 to 15 took part in a range of trials and drills.

Those who were successful will move on to the next round of try outs in July and the ultimate goal is making the list for the first grand slam of the year next January.

Max Wood and Elizabeth Nye, who are 12 and 11 years old respectively, said they were excited to show their skills.

“At my school they had a sign-up sheet and me and my sister wanted to do it because I’ve always wanted to be at the Australian Open on the court,” said Max.

He said he would be excited if he got chosen to work at the Open and would love to see his favourite player, Raphael Nadal.

“I love being able to see really good players,” he said.

Elizabeth travelled from Queensland to attend the tryouts in Ballarat and said it was her goal to take to the court at Melbourne Park.

“I came today because I love playing tennis and I want to see my favourite tennis players,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to be on the court.”

Both Max and Elizabeth said it would be a dream come true to be selected as a ball kids.

Tennis Australia Ballkid strategy and operations lead, Lorey Bentley, said being a ball kid is a great way to develop skills.

“We are looking at three criteria: the speed they are able to move around the court, their rolling and servicing,” she said.

“As well as the physical skills they develop really good readership skills, communication skills and they get to know other ball kids from all around Australia, so it gives them a great change to meet a lot of different people.”

This year selectors are placing a focus on increasing ball kid numbers from outside the major metropolitan areas involved.

“We’re looking at expanding it more into regional Victoria so this year we’re holding trials in Mildura, Horsham and Port Fairy for the first time,” said Ms Bentley.

“It’s to give regional ball kids more of an opportunity to become a part of it.”

The final squad, which will take to court for the 2024 Australian Open, will be announced later this year and consist of 380 children.