Overview
Field of Play Entry is a combination of the Final Warm Up Area (FWUA) and the walk out tunnel onto the field of play. This team plays a key role communicating between the athletes, technical officials and broadcast to ensure the coordination of all personnel, playing a crucial role in keeping the event to time.
The team coordinate the transition of players from the final warm up area to the field of play on time as smoothly as possible.
The FWUA has 2 courts and only players due on court are allowed access to the area. There is a separate physiotherapy area adjacent to the FWUA so players can have treatment before going onto court.The team have to be aware which players are in the final warm up area/physiotherapy area at any time. This can be 16 or more players at any one time. If a player is not in the final warm up area when the match prior to theirs is progressing to completion the team liaises with the Athlete Services Team to ask the players to come up to the Final Warm Up area from the warm up courts, which are 6 flights of stairs below.
Once the player enters FWUA the team keep track on them so we know where they are at all times to ensure that they are ready to walk onto the court at the appropriate time.
Once players are noted to be in attendance the team check the kit that players will be wearing on court to ensure that they are wearing different coloured clothing and if there is a potential clash issue, the team refer this onto the match Umpire to check.
A changing cubicle is provided in the FWUA so that players can change in private but quickly.
The FWUA is where players get into the zone ready for going onto court for their match and the team have to ensure that they are not disturbed unnecessarily - no press, photographers or members of the public. The team are sensitive to this and do not chat to players or distract them from their preparation.
The team communicate constantly with the athletes, technical officials, broadcast team and practice hall. Prior to a match going onto court the team have to ensure that both the players and technical officials (Umpire, service judge and line judges) are lined up ready and then liaise with the announcer, production team and TV floor manager so that everyone is ready at the same time for the match to go onto court.
The team has to maintain a clean, professional and safe working environment. With 100’s of players moving through the FWUA the team has to ensure that it is kept clean, that there is water available for players and that players are aware of progress on the match courts.
There is a results screen which players in the FWUA can see so they can check when they are likely to be required to go onto match courts.
The team assist in the organisation of the finals day presentation ceremonies, this includes the ceremony presenters, presentation party and medals and trophies to walk onto the field of play.
On finals day there are 6 members of the forces (army, navy and air force) who are part of the presentation party and they carry the medals and trophy onto the stage and escort the ceremony presenters.
Behind the scenes can be quite hectic with so many people lining up to go onto the stage for the presentations but we still need to keep things relaxed for those players yet to go onto court.
The winning player/s receive a medal each, the relevant trophy and a glass case with the winning shuttle in.
Players return to the FWUA after the match has completed and they have been to the media zone. It is one of the most rewarding things to see these young players having photographs, taken by their team mates, of them with their trophies..
Gaye Jackson, Field Of Play Entry Team Leader
