2011 Barclays Ball Kid Squad Selected

After a three month search, thirty youngsters from around the country have been selected to be Ball Kids at this year’s Barclays ATP World Tour Finals held at The O2, London from 20th – 27th  November.

The lucky thirty were selected from over 2,500 hopefuls that took part in the nationwide search. The programme began with a series of fourteen regional trials held on week-ends between March and mid May, with 127 children aged between 12-16 years old being chosen from these to attend the final stage of the search – the National Selection Trials - that took place on Saturday May 21st at The Westway Sports Centre, London.

Here the children were tested on their agility, endurance, co-ordination, ball skills, speed and team work, under the watchful eye of the Barclays Ball Kid Talent ID team, three time Wimbledon Champion Boris Becker and Andy Murray’s former coach Mark Petchey.  “The programme was a huge success last year in finding the best ball kids in Great Britain for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals,” said Becker who himself was a ball boy as a youngster at his local club in German. “The standard is extremely high, even higher than last year, which is saying something as I think the 2010 Barclays Ball Kids were the best ball kids I’ve seen in my life.”

“I think the Barclays Ball Kids programme shows how much interest there is in tennis in this country,” said Petchey. “There are a lot of talented kids here and to see how driven and professional they are is just thrilling. The ball kids that get picked really will have a once in a lifetime experience. To be up close and personal to the best players in the world – they’ll have the best seat in The O2 !”

The squad of Barclays Ball Kids will now undergo a training session later this year and an intensive five day ‘Base Camp’ in October where they will perfect their skills before joining the world’s top eight tennis players on court as Ball Kids at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.