If your wondering, do ball boys get paid in tennis, then the answer lies with us. Visit our site to know whether or not they are paid, and still more.
This question that we are about to answer is a very frequently asked question, most sports have them whether you want to call them water boy, towel boy, and in this tennis case, they are known as ball boy/girl. These persons are relevant in all the sports events especially tournaments, as simple as they may sound They are very important to the game.
So before we come to the main question of whether ball boys/girls get paid, let us learn a little more about these ball boys and girls.
Ball boys/girls are mostly in the age group of 14-15 years old. Due to the nature of their work, they have to be physically fit and of course, they should have great knowledge about the game.
The main job of ball boys and girls is to retrieve loose balls and to deliver game balls to the players quickly. As well as dealing with the game balls, ball boys/girls may also provide the players with other assistance, such as the delivery of towels and drinks or even fruits. Ball boys/girls may perform the following duties based on their positions on the tennis court
Position:
- Nets– ball boys/ girls are located on either side of the net to retrieve balls that are trapped by the net. Their job is to gather dead balls from the court and feed them to the bases after a point by rolling them alongside the court.
- Bases-ball boys/girls that are located at the ends of each court at the baseline receive balls from the nets and then give or feed these balls to the servers. This process of feeding is done in several ways. in some cases, bases have both arms in the air and feed the ball with one arm, in other cases, they have one arm behind their back and the other arm up in the air from which they feed the balls. Bases should also be aware of a player’s preference while feeding. Most players accept the standard, which is for the ball boy or girl to gently toss the ball such that it bounces one time then to the proper height for the player to catch the ball easily.
And the question is do ball boys get paid in tennis? The answer for this would all depend on the tournament hosting the event, for one the Wimbledon grand slam event it’s not a known factor that they reward the ball boys with any form of cash or payouts.
Apart from that most tournaments will reward the ball boys with gift or cash, a ball boy can very much get from 7USD to 19USD per hour as pay. Again it will all be depending on the whichever tournament they are working for at that time period.
How Do Ball Boys Get Paid In Tennis?
The second time around participating as ball boy the pay will be more than your first time around. It has always been a debate on whether ball boys/girls should be paid because when you really look at it who get paid to meet there favorite sport pro-league star.
Most of the ball boys are huge fans of the sport tennis and most of the time they will be meeting there celebrity fan upfront. being ball boy is a privilege when you are to really look at it so its no wonder the debate about should ball boys be paid however most events will pay.
Getting cast is not the only way of paying them however I bet its the most preferred by the ball boys/girls. Many events do gift pay handouts at the end of the tournaments as well with loads of things like tennis racquets, ball, shirts, headphones, and many more.
The beneficial list just goes on and on when you are a ball boy, there are also tournaments in which you get free tickets not just for your self but the family as well and free foods are included most of the time. As I keep repeating all the different tournaments have different benefits.
A ball boy gets to meet their favorite tennis players at the events and that alone can be considered as payment if you are a real fan of the game. As ball boy/girl you get to feel the game as well is like your on the tennis court competing as well with your some of the world’s best teens player, it’s much better than front row tickets to the movies if you know what I mean.
How To Qualify For Ball Boy/Girl In Tennis?
Every major tournament has different expectations of what they want and what the ball boy or girl must be able to do. They have different preferences in age groups and how far you may live from the even and a fitness test will be most likely done as well. All said and done let us get into the different requirements that the different grand slam event needs.
1. Wimbledon
The Wimbledon championships event chooses there boll boy/girl from the selected schools of their choice most the time they are affiliated schools that are part of their organization listings. The selected persons have to pass a fitness test as well as knowing the basic rules of the game as well.
Even though the event starts in June the training process for the ball boy/girl would normally take place in February, they usually select students under the age of 16 years old as well. There also was a time when ball boys/girls usually get paid however the director has changed that.
In this event now they are about 700 young applicants that apply for the ball boy/girl out of that number around 250 will be selected to start their training. From the 700 who have applied 160 from that will be members from the previous events that had been selected as ball boy/girl an the event and from that 160 there will only be a chosen number of 90.
2. U.S Open
This has no age limit for the person applying for the ball boy or girl position all age groups are welcome as long as you are in good fitness shape. the standard payment for this event as ball boy is $8.00 per hour, in an event that the ball boy or girl is a returning member the pay grade will be above that.
This event takes 500 applications and from that, a sum of 300 will be chosen to undergo training, what more can you ask for in this event you are getting paid while interaction with the tennis stars of the world. That would indicate that you are the true star on the court.
People try out for the ball boy/girl position from all corners in the United States however the majority is from New York. From the 500 applicants, 150 will be chosen and the other 150 will be selected from the returning ball boys applications.
3. Australian Openings
The Australian opens take in 2500 applications for ball boy/girl from this large number 360 will be selected to be ball boy/girl. It is common to see the ball boys or girls are from other nations across the world, even though this event does not pay cash to the ball boy/girl it is well satisfying as well.
No cash is been paid however the applicants get free tickets for their family alongside free food, at the end of the event the ball boy/girl receives gift baskets with lots of goodies.
A next thing, you have to be from 12 years of age to 15 to be chosen as well so if you are over the maximum and under the minimum, you won’t be selected that easily. The training is also long and is been separated into stages level 1 training and level 2 training, applicants fall out during this event in training.
4. French Open
Last but not least is the french Openings event, to be a ball boy/girl you much first undergo that’s held in France. They would take in up to 4000 applicants for the training program and from that large sum, there would only 220 that’s selected as ball boy/girl.
The french event is no joke they have the longest training program on the listing of grand slam events, so far we don’t have any accurate intel on whether the ball boy/girls get any form of payments or scholarships or any of those when participating on an event as the ball boy/girl.
Final Thoughts
To be a ball boy/girl in tennis is a major privilege and life experience to be encountered with all the famous tennis stars in the world. I know some would say that the ball boy/girls should get better pay however if you are to look at it the other way around they are getting paid with a lifetime experience already.
As mentioned above the different events will carry different benefits of being the ball boy some get paid as you see while others get gifts and we have some that do neither of the above. A ball boy in tennis is a very important role to play, as you may see some of there training are like going to collage all back ver again just to be thought how to maintain the game and not braking ani riles on the court.
For many kids that love the sport, this is a dream come through for them to participate in a major even like any of the above mention events as ball boy or girl.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading and reaching the end in our article do ball boys get paid in tennis, we hope we have answered your question in all the ways possible. Thanks again and please remember to check out some other related articles that we have like, why tennis players blow on their hands.
