Mastercard rig let a wheelchair user be an Australian Open ballkid

Ballkids are one of tennis's most visible roles, yet the job — sprinting, crouching, scooping balls at ground level — had quietly excluded every kid in a wheelchair. Mastercard, an Australian Open partner, could have done what sponsors usually do: logos, hospitality, an ad about inclusion.

Instead, with agency TBWA\Eleven Sydney, it built Australia's first wheelchair ballkid pilot program around 11-year-old junior wheelchair tennis champion Sonny Rennison. Working with Grand Slam trainers and current and former world-ranked players, the team concluded Sonny needed a device to collect balls at ground level and store them while on court, and built one for his chair.

Sonny trained with five experienced ballkids under Paralympian Heath Davidson and ballkid assessor Diana Sutterby, covering on-court communication, rolling technique and servicing players, then appeared around the 2024 Australian Open's All Abilities Day. Former champion Alicia Molik, watching his simulation match, said 'Sonny really shone out there'.

Mastercard then made the ball collector, holder and pilot learnings freely available to tournament organisers and anyone with a 3D printer. The work was shortlisted in Societal Innovation at the Spikes Asia 2025 Innovation Spikes, judged live at the festival.

Don't sponsor the hero; remove the barrier excluding one

It converted passive sponsorship rights into an active product that solved a real exclusion inside the sponsored property itself.

The solution was co-designed with Grand Slam trainers and players, so it survived contact with real match procedure rather than being a staged photo op.

Open-sourcing the 3D-printable files let any tournament adopt the idea while keeping Mastercard attached as its origin.

An 11-year-old champion with a genuine dream gave the story credibility that a celebrity ambassador could not buy.

It earned a Spikes Asia 2025 Innovation shortlist slot without being one of the over-retold Grand Prix winners.

A sponsor earns more fame by fixing a real exclusion inside the event than by plastering its logo on it; open-sourcing the fix turns a one-off stunt into a platform others must credit you for.

The pilot ran around the 2024 Australian Open with Sonny Rennison as the inaugural wheelchair ballkid, and Mastercard released the device files and program learnings globally for 3D printing and adoption by other tournaments. 'The First Wheelchair Ballkid' was shortlisted in the Societal Innovation category of the Spikes Asia 2025 Innovation Spikes, where the Grand Prix went to Colenso BBDO's 'Adoptable, by Pedigree'.