TENNIS
The turf on Centre Court and No.1 Court
is re-sown each year, as soon as possible after The Wimbledon Championships
we implement any changes.” Throughout the year, there is ongoing dialogue with key groups like the police, local authori- ties, voluntary bodies, residents, transport providers and other interested parties to consider matters arising and monitor suggested improvements. “The challenges change each year,
depending on what we are doing, but I must stress how important it is to have a well oiled and experienced team,” says Ritchie. “When Populous was design- ing the Centre Court roof, the challenge was to make sure we could still hold the championships each year, while the build was going on, so the building work had to be meticulously planned to get the site ready. Otherwise all improvements require careful dovetailing into the ex- isting plan, so although we have the advantage of being on the same site, we are always changing something and in- evitably that can be a worry.”
Taking orders Another aspect of the tremendous organisation is the catering. Head of ca- tering, Jonathan Parker, has the annual challenge of overseeing 1,800 casual staff and feeding 38,500 people each day. “Wimbledon is the best annual sporting event in the world, so every- thing we do must complement that, because we’re part of the experience,” he says. “Over the years it has changed from being a picnic society to offering the best of public catering.” Apart from the perennial favourites:
strawberries and cream; Pimms; and the Duchy sausage, each year the menu is tweaked and the facilities are extended. New for this year is an Italian restaurant which is part of the debenture restaurant portfolio. Meanwhile the competitors’ res- taurant has also been improved, to allow for pasta dishes to be cooked to order.
LONDON 2012 OLYMPICS W
imbledon will enjoy a double whammy next year, with the London Olympics taking place from 28 July to 5 August 2012. Twenty-six thousand spectators are expected each day to watch a field of the world’s best tennis players. Tennis has long been associated with the Olympic Games, being one of the origi-
nal nine sports, but it was sidelined between 1924 and 1988, when the Internation- al Tennis Federation and the International Olympic Committee couldn’t agree over the issue of amateur/professional competition. Since its return it has become an event taken seriously by players who work it into their schedules and so the best players are expected to compete at next year’s Games. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) will move in
as soon as Wimbledon is over to put in its own infrastructure and overlay. LOCOG’s director of sport, Debbie Jevans, says: “The fact that it hosts one of the best cham- pionships in the world makes it much easier for us. We won’t have to do a full test event, which we do for some of our other venues, such as Horse Guards Parade.” The biggest challenge is to make sure that the playing surface is ready.
LOCOG has been discussing this with head groundsman, Eddie Seaward, over the past two years. The baselines will be resown, with fast growing grass, immedi- ately after the championships. “We are very excited about using Wimbledon to host the Olympics two weeks
after the championships,” says Jevans. “The attention to detail will be the same, but it will have its own look, feel and atmosphere.”
Preparations start in September, af-
ter the veterans’, juniors’ and combined services events, which follow Wimble- don, are over. The summer tournaments are reviewed and accounts closed, after a holiday period in October, detailed planning starts in November. Staff are re- cruited in January and by the spring the preparations are really underway with tastings and menus being completed. Setting up the areas begins in May. “The biggest challenges are extended
periods of rain, as everyone descends on the catering areas,” says Parker. “Not to mention the logistics of getting 4,000 product lines distributed around the site, which happens at night. However, all the staff actually love the pressure. If we’ve done our job right prior to the event we should be able to enjoy it, which is very rewarding.”
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Fringe benefits Ritchie agrees that overseeing one of the world’s premier sporting events does have huge payoffs: “The most fulfill- ing thing for me is that everyone who comes here should enjoy their time. We want our spectators to go away thinking they have had the best possible day, in the finest surroundings, for their money. We want the players to look forward to coming here, knowing they are going to be well looked after and put in the right frame of mind to play their best ten- nis. And, we want all those who may be working here for the whole two weeks – media, officials and staff – to have the best working conditions possible, to allow them to do their job well and enjoy being part of the occasion.” ●
Kate Hudson is a freelance journalist Issue 2 2011 © cybertrek 2011
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