Ball boy

Ball boys and ball girls,^[1] also known as ball kids,^[2] are individuals, usually human youths, but sometimes dogs,^[3] who retrieve and supply balls for players or officials in sports such as association football, American football, bandy, cricket, tennis, baseball and basketball. Though non-essential, their activities help to speed up play by reducing the amount of inactive time.

For other uses, see Ball boy (disambiguation).

Nets are located on either side of the net to retrieve balls that are trapped by the net. Their job is to gather dead balls from the court and feed them to the bases after a point. This is usually done by rolling them alongside the court.

Bases are located just off each corner (at either end of the baseline at either end of the court). Their job is to retrieve balls from the nets and then feed balls to the server.

Cricket[edit]

Ball boys are stationed around the field just outside the boundary to retrieve any balls struck into the spectator stands or to the boundary rope. In India, disabled people are not allowed to be ball-boys anymore after a controversy occurred in 2017, after criticism of the Board of Control for Cricket in India surrounding the appearance of a polio-afflicted fan who had been serving as a ball-boy for a few years.^[15]

Water boy

Media related to Ball boys and girls at Wikimedia Commons