Congratulations Darcy Mintern and Daniel Belcher
NDC Year 9 student Darcy Mintern has achieved something that is quite unique over the past few Australian Open Tennis Championships.
Darcy is one of thousands of young people who try out each year to be a Ball kid at the Australian Open, and was successful last year, rolling the tennis balls at some pretty special matches.
This year he was selected to be one of the best of the best. Not only was he selected to be a leader of the Ball Kids, but he was also had a pivotal role as a leading Ball Kid on centre court during the men's final, a massive 5 setter between eventual winner Italian Jannick Sinner and Daniil Medvedev.
Darcy has really made a name for himself and would dearly love to be in the grand slam exchange programme, where he could be racing across the net at Roland Garros, at Wimbledon or at Flushing Meadows in New York.
We are very proud of Darcy at NDC. Darcy can still be selected again next year which would be an incredible achievement.
NDC Teacher Daniel Belcher knows how well Darcy has progressed as Daniel is Ball kid Organiser Team Leader, a role he has had with the AO since 2018. Daniel’s role includes looking after the court and staff, assessment and wellbeing of the ball kids.
Both Darcy and Daniel - we are told, are pretty handy tennis players as well. It is great to see that their love of the sport isn't just about playing but contributing to the success of others and ensuring a world class event is the best it can be.
Well done Darcy and Daniel.
