Meet the Ball-boys
The sixty-one boys from the William Baker Technical Schools at Goldings, Herts, the Wimbledon fortnight means an exacting but welcome break from learning a trade. The William Baker Schools, a branch of Dr. Barnardo's Homes, have provided the ball-boys for Wimbledon for the past seven years.
The boys are selected on the basis of their keenness and ability, and competition is fierce. There are about 200 boys at Goldings, eighty or so are juniors below school-leaving age and therefore not eligible, and a few more are incapacitated physically in some way. The remainder all start training for Wimbledon, but gradually the number is reduced until only the best sixty-one are left. To round off their ball-boy training at the school, the boys spend two afternoons at Wimbledon before the tournament starts to be rehearsed by the club staff there.
Viewers and spectators may not appreciate how skilful and energetic a ball-boy has to be, but just watch one for a time. Incidentally, over 10,000 balls are used at an average Wimbledon, and they mean a lot of collecting even to sixty-one keen youngsters of fifteen and sixteen years of age. Eight boys are allocated to a court, and six of them are 'on duty' during a match while two are resting. The Lawn Tennis Association pays the boys pocket money.
There are both grass and hard courts at the Baker Schools, two of which have been added to cater for the increased interest in tennis among ball-boys, many of whom make friends with the Wimbledon stars.