How much Wimbledon ball boys and girls are paid and what their training entails

Ball boys and girls play a vital role at Wimbledon every year, but how much are they paid for their tireless work?

Wimbledon 2026 is now underway in SW19, as fans across the world tune in to watch one of the most exciting sporting events of the summer.

The competition will be played over 14 days from Monday June 29 to Sunday July 12, with both the men's and the women's single competitions made up of 128 players.

Across the two weeks, nearly 700 matches will be played across the 18 Wimbledon courts.

Present across many of the matches will be the famous Wimbledon ball boys and girls, who are tasked with ensuring that all 675 tennis matches run smoothly as they collect loose balls and hand players fresh ones quickly.

Approximately 280 ball boys and girls are selected every year, most aged between 14 and 17, with Wimbledon often receiving around 1,400 applications annually.

Within the total selected, around 180 are Year 9 and Year 10 pupils from local schools, while the other 100 are some that impressed in the previous year who are invited back.

But, despite the difficult selection process and the demands of the two weeks of hard work, ball boys and girls are not paid a salary during their time at Wimbledon.

Instead, they are given around £200 to cover expenses across the fortnight, alongside additional perks like free meals and refreshments while on duty.

On top of this, they all get to keep their stylish Ralph Lauren Wimbledon uniform forever, not to mention some of them getting better than front-row spots to watch some of the biggest matches across Centre Court and Court One.

The sheer number of applications received every year shows that, for many, simply being a big part of Wimbledon every year is more than enough for ball boys and girls.

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How Wimbledon ball boys and girls are trained

Once they are in, there's still plenty of work to be done as training ahead of the tournament starts as early as February, some four months before the action gets underway.

Hopeful recruits attend multiple weekly sessions at the All England Club’s training centre in Raynes Park, London, to undergo various drills and tests such as speed drills and court exercises.

Their knowledge of the rules of tennis are also assessed in a series of written tests.

Describing the process, former Wimbledon ball boy Alex Crockford, who worked at the Championships in the 2000s, explained that it is a lot more demanding than you would expect.

The training was intense and very physical,” he told the Daily Express.

“We practiced how to throw the ball perfectly to the players and how to stand still for long periods.”

About a month before the opening match, the training sessions move to Wimbledon itself, as the recruits practice in their new full uniforms on the grass ahead of the competition starting.