Inside Montreal, journalist Louis-Philippe Messier travels mainly on the run, his office in his backpack, on the lookout for fascinating subjects and people. He speaks to everyone and is interested in all walks of life in this urban chronicle.
The tennis-loving public cherishes the players, and some more than others, but the real darlings of the crowd are always those teenagers who scramble to pick up the balls as discreetly as possible in the sometimes intolerable heat.
The young ball hunters work hard and voluntarily, but they are “paid” for their effort by a significant advantage: the proximity of the action.
“The best place to watch a tennis match is directly on the court with the players to whom we give the ball! exclaims Nicolas Beaudet, who recruits, trains and supervises the 96 “hunters” whose work is almost a sport in itself.
Photo Chantal Poirier
The person in charge of the ball hunters, Nicolas Beaudet, explains to me the technique for picking up the balls at the net.
When the teams of six ball chasers arrive on the field – two by two in the back lines and two at the net – the 10,000 spectators in the stadium applaud them! Same thing when a team relays another.
“It’s part of the show! says Mr. Beaudet, to whom I find Obi-Wan Kenobi tunes, when he speaks to me and shows me the techniques of the bullet hunters. At only 40 years old, he is already in his 25th tournament.
He indeed started as a ball hunter at the age of 15 in 1997, when the event still bore the name of the Du Maurier cigarette brand.
Her job as a high school physical education teacher (and the two months of vacation that comes with it) facilitates her dedication as a volunteer each summer.
Desired qualities
Between 100 and 150 young candidates – with around a third of them being girls – knock on her door every year around March. About 30 or 40 will be selected.
“To be a good ball hunter, you have to understand the game well, although it’s not essential to play it yourself,” he explains to me.
Those who want to return in subsequent years are immediately accepted.
“Only experience can make a fighter really efficient and comfortable in his job, and we use our 17 or 18 year old veterans for the big games. »
The hunters are dressed from head to toe in the colors of the tournament and fed.
“It’s a lot of agility and endurance that we’re looking for because it’s a very demanding job. »
In addition to the physical prowess required, other considerations complicate the lives of youngsters on the pitch.
No question of hiding the name of a sponsor when the camera is filming.
No question of blocking the view of photographers either.
Forbidden to speak: we communicate by the look and by discreet gestures.
“A good ball hunter knows how to make himself invisible and make himself forgotten. »
As a radar detection system replaced the seven linesmen, it took a lot of people off the field, and Mr. Beaudet’s “padawans” have valuable additional space.
“On hot days, in the strong sun on the field without shade, the temperature exceeds 40 degrees, and that requires our hunters to hydrate a lot,” he says.
During the announced days of great heat, have a thought for these stoic and erased young people. They are not for nothing the darlings of the crowd. These applause, they fully deserve it!