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Being a BBG - Wimbledon's unsung heroes

By Gary Morley, CNN
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Wimbledon's ball boys and girls are an integral part of the action at the tennis tournament
  • They go through five months of training before being deemed ready to take part
  • BBG director Anne Rundle is in her final year after reaching the age of 65
  • She has been involved in various roles since schools became involved in 1969

London (CNN) -- The "BBGs" may sound like a derivative of the trio of songsmiths famous for their chart-topping tunes, but the acronym instead stands for a band of people who are unsung heroes, in comparison to The Bee Gees anyway.

Wimbledon's ball-boys and girls -- or BBGs for short -- help make sure that the planet's top tennis players can ply their trade with the minimum of fuss, a role that puts them at the center of attention after each point played at the world's most famous grass-court tournament.

It's not easy staying calm, or Stayin' Alive even, when you're surrounded by television cameras, a vociferous capacity crowd, and with balls whizzing past your head but the contingent of adolescent co-workers -- which has been recruited from both sexes since 1977 -- pride themselves at their efficiency and exactitude.

"We have had the ones who are feeling a little dizzy but who are remaining with their arms up to feed (the ball) as they've sunk slowly to the floor. We have had some crisis moments, but we try not to remember them," says Anne Rundle, who oversees BBG training at Wimbledon.

Some of our ex-ball boys and girls try to emulate some of the charming traits of the players
--BBG director Anne Rundle
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Now 65 and facing her final year as head of the BBG program, Rundle has been involved in various roles since 1969 when schools began providing most of the participants.

"When I first came up here I did odd days, then I had my children, so I didn't really do it full time until the '80s, but I'd been coming up since the late '60s," she says.

While her two sons became ball boys, her daughter missed out as she went to a school outside the local catchment area from which the BBGs are accepted.

This year about 1,000 kids applied to take part in the fortnight-long event, from which a final line-up of 250 was made -- with about 100 of those coming back for a second stint at the championships.

Having fulfilled the initial online criteria, the chosen ones began a grueling training regime at the start of this year.

Starting off with stamina tests, the sessions move to learning skills such as accurate ball rolling before building understanding of the game's finer points -- such as ball changes, tie-breaks and suspensions in play.

"They really need to understand the game because if they don't know where to send the balls then they're no use to anybody," Rundle says.

"A lot of them can actually do all the things we ask them, then you put them on court and their feet don't talk to their head and it all goes pear-shaped."

The most important skills include patience and the ability to stand still for minutes at a time -- not easy in the cauldron of a Centre Court title match.

Be yourself and don't get in the way of cameras -- don't say anything that'll get picked up by microphones
--BBG Caroline Harding

"It's not only during a game, it's if they're waiting for another match to start they're often standing on court for a long time and they're the only people the crowd have got to look at, so I think most people are quite impressed when they're standing there perfectly still," Rundle says.

"We've got some of our ex-ball boys and girls come and they try to emulate some of the charming traits of the players, so they'll throw towels and stamp their feet and chuck their rackets around.

"During the training we might shout at them to encourage them because it can happen on court and they're not going to be able to react, they've got to get on with it."

Caroline Harding is one of the BBGs back for a second year.

"My friend's sister got to play on Centre Court with Tommy Haas, so I thought I'd give that a try. It's a really good opportunity," she says.

In 2009, Haas entertained the crowd by playing with BBGs after his second-round opponent Michael Llodra retired hurt following a collision with a ball girl. The German went on to reach the semifinals.

Louis Farquharson, also 14, is looking forward to his first time on the hallowed grass courts.

"It's nice to meet new friends and new people at the championships, and be next to the best tennis players in world," he said.

Harding's advice for new BBGs: "Be yourself and don't get in the way of cameras and things like that -- don't say anything that'll get picked up by microphones."

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