TENNIS Australia will be making their final stop in the first phase of the 2026 Australian Open ballkid trials when they visit the Old Aerodrome Oval tennis courts this Friday night.
A two year ongoing process, registration for trials opened on December 1 last year and those wanting to be involved had four months to register before the closing period.
Aspiring young tennis fans have been handed a golden opportunity to grace the courts at Melbourne Park as part of a statewide search.
Kate-Lyn Perkin, tennis development officer with Tennis Victoria working under Tennis Australia, said she is eager to see the region’s youngsters in action.
“Mildura’s our last one which is pretty exciting,” she said.
“Originally it was going to be our first but we didn’t have many kids actually register for that one so we moved it in hope that more kids will take up that trial time and give an opportunity for people to experience Mildura over the long weekend.
“Registrations closed on the 31st of March and from there after they’ve registered, they log in and pick one of our 24 trials that we have across the state.”
Ms Perkin helps conduct the majority of the regional trials which has taken her on the road all around Victoria to places such as Ballarat Bendigo, Natimuk, Sale, Traralgon, Warrnambool and Wodonga.
This Friday’s session in at the Aero courts is designed to introduce participants to the basics while providing selectors a chance to assess each applicant’s potential.
The start time is 6pm, running for approximately an hour, but applicants are encouraged to arrive earlier so they can be ticked off and handed a ball kid number, Ms Perkin said.
“We’ll run about 15 minutes of a warm-up and coaching session, so we’ll show the kids what rolling looks like, what the servicing looks like as well as a few tips and tricks,” she said.
“Then we spend about 40 minutes doing our trial drill, which is a mix of the kids on the baseline servicing, running across the net, servicing balls and also just being part of the drill, rolling balls into the net.”
At this first stage of selection, there’s more focus on effort and attitude rather than perfection of ballkid skills.
“Being a level one, we first look at the basics,” said Ms Perkin.
“We like to see are the kids on time, how they communicate when they first arrive, are they shy, do they have a bit of confidence.
“Then we look at things like how fast they are running across the net, how co-ordinated they are, do they have the ability to get down and roll a ball, are they open to feedback.”
Ms Perkin said elected entrants from Mildura will advance to the level two trials held in Melbourne, where around 600 to 700 kids from Victoria will be further evaluated and narrowed down to squad of about 400.
The course is also constructed to be rewarding in itself, developing vital life skills in all who take part.
“It gives them a sense of independence and having to manage themselves as when they’re on court, it’s all about them and how they manage the on court drill,” Ms Perkin said.
“Once they do get to the Australian Open, they have a time they’ve got to be there by, they’ve got to completely manage themselves from when they eat, are they getting enough water, are they back on court at the right time.
“The successful ones are really open to learning and feedback so initially they may not be the fastest or the most co-ordinated ballkid, but they show initiative and that they want to learn and get better; that’s definitely the best ballkid.”
