Children are constantly looking for an excuse to stay up past their bedtime. And if you’re a ballkid working the Australian Open, you’re in luck: it comes with the territory.
While Andy Murray and Thanasi Kokkinakis slugged it out on court for nearly six hours, their hard-working young helpers also had to go the distance.
A ballkid dries a court at Melbourne Park.Credit:Getty Images
One parent of a ballkid who worked that match, but was not authorised to speak by tournament organisers, said their child “absolutely loved it”.
But while the kids – many of them promising junior players – may dig the late nights fetching balls for their heroes, parents can be a little more divided.
“That was nuts,” said Michelle Bannon, whose daughter worked at last year’s Australian Open, of Friday’s 4am finish. “I was thinking, ‘I’m glad she wasn’t a ballkid this year because they haven’t had a good week’.”
This year the Open has a record 394 ballkids, aged 12 to 15. They’re vital to making the match run smoothly, and if you watch tennis you’ll have seen them running around collecting balls, bouncing them to the serving player, or rolling them across the court [this week you might have also seen them drying rain off the courts with towels]
Andy Murray wins at 4.05am local time.Credit:Getty Images
Australian Open ballkids don’t get paid, but they will get prize packs (which will contain an as yet undisclosed electronic gift). The real prize is intangible, though – time on court with the world’s top players and being enmeshed in the global tennis community.
Supervisor Daniel Whykes – a former AO ballkid himself – said the higher performers were put on the big courts, so the children rostered on for a night match were likely to be more accomplished. They’re on for 45 minutes and off for 45, and there are meals and snacks available throughout.
“They were tired, but they had an amazing time,” Whykes said. “They really thrive off it.”
Stuart Sutterby, a tennis coach from Extreme Tennis in Melbourne’s Lysterfield, is the father of three former Australian Open ballkids and says the ticks ultimately outweigh the crosses.
“I’s a tough one, I can see both sides. It’s certainly a demanding time for the family,” he says. His children didn’t mind the late finishes, but he thinks some form of payment would be reasonable.
Bannon said her daughter loved every minute as a ballkid, but it was draining, and as a parent she was concerned the children were not always chaperoned after late finishes. However, Whykes said chaperones were always provided after dark.
Like all the other parents the Herald and The Age spoke with on Friday, Bannon sympathised with Australian Open organisers and schedulers. She said arena crowds would feel “dudded” if their second match was moved or cut short due to the lateness of the hour.
“What match would [organisers] have given them? They weren’t to know the [Murray] match was going to go for six hours,” Bannon said. “They’re damned if you do and damned if they don’t.”
Another parent who did not want to be identified said the 4am finish was “a bit ridiculous”, but tennis was “a sport that requires you to live in the moment”.
Her son, who worked a late game this week that was not the Murray-Kokkinakis match, said the longer matches were more fun. “The crowd gets involved a lot and it has a great atmosphere.”
Watch the Australian Open, live on Channel Nine, 9Gem and 9Now.
