They were on court for every second of the action at OVO Arena Wembley, making a combined 600 appearances and picking up an estimated 20,000 balls – the London 2026 ball crew were among the unsung heroes of the tournament.
Across 86 team matches, sometimes in the most electric and intense of environments as high-stakes matches were played out, they ensured the greatest players in the world could compete at the highest levels without delay or interruption to their flow.
Their job was to retrieve loose balls at the end of each rally, making sure they were collected and stored before the server had received a new ball from the assistant umpire and resumed play. They then returned them to the assistant umpire at the end of each game.
The team, along with their chaperones who helped to keep them safe when they were not on duty, came from the Fusion, Sparta and Fulham Brunswick clubs in London and from Draycott in Derbyshire, as well as Nottingham TTC.
They were organised and managed by David Maddison, ably supported by John Dennison of Fusion TTC, Demi Chante Reid, and Jo Green of Draycott TTC.
David also liaised with their schools to ensure they were given permission to miss a few days of their education so they could have this once-in-a-lifetime experience and make their essential contribution.
Fusion, together with a smaller number of young people from Fulham and Sparta and led by John, provided the bulk of the ball crew with a group of 30-plus, and David said: “They were the rock on which the whole operation was built.
“Without them, their extraordinary commitment and their exceptional group of young people, none of what we were able to achieve, and which served the Championships so well, would have been possible.”
The Draycott and Nottingham contingent of 16 played a vital part in giving the Fusion youngsters a break in midweek, and such was their commitment that they were on a train at 5.15am at East Midlands Parkway station so they could get to Wembley by 8.30am and be trained and ready to go at 10am.
The group was multi-cultural, resulting in some being on court for matches involving nations with which they had a family connection – one member of the crew was even spotted on TV by his grandparents in Japan as he picked up balls during a Japan match!
David said: “They showed themselves to be an extraordinary group of young people. This was no small contribution, it was both a mental and physical challenge which required training, stamina and exceptional levels of commitment.
“They were trained to deliver ‘disciplined invisibility’, providing a rapid response to each point so that balls were collected and stored before the server had received a new ball.
“We asked them, whatever was going on in the arena, to never become involved or be distracted from their task, and to perform their role in a way that never drew attention to themselves. This I felt they did in an exemplary way.”
While praising all the youngsters, two earned special mention from David – brothers Taha and Malek Shamakh from Draycott.
David said: “They were with me from 9am until after 10pm every day from 2 to 10 May, staying with their father in London. They were my back-up, ‘go-to’ crew and they never let me down. Whenever I needed them, early or very late or in between, they were always there.
“But, of course, everyone played their part in providing an exceptional role to help facilitate this exceptional event. The ball crew was just one small part of the whole, incredibly successful event, but they were a significant part of this and it’s right that they should be recognised and praised.
“This was a group of 50-plus seemingly ordinary 10-to-15-year-olds, who turned out to be extraordinary in what they were capable of and willing to give – and ultimately what they achieved – on behalf of TTE, the ITTF and their country. I hope they take that into their future lives and successes.”