Back in the 1980s, Steve Riley was in his early 20s when he arrived in the UAE from the UK. The Briton soon found a job at Al Ain Hilton before moving on to join Dubai Sheraton.
But more than his work, what Riley remembers fondly about the UAE is tennis.
“I used to play a lot in the community tennis tournaments in Dubai, and even won the Dubai Tennis Open,” Riley told Khaleej Times.
Now, Riley returned to Dubai for a special reason.
A successful businessman in the UK who has worked hard to make tennis more accessible to the public in his native country, Riley launched the Ballkid Project 2025 to select the most talented youngster for a special assignment in Dubai.
“We trained 20 youngsters in the project, and the best one, Jack Frew, was picked to be a ballkid at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships,” Riley said.
For Jack, who flew into Dubai with his parents from the UK, it was a dream come true to be a ball kid on Centre Court for the biggest tennis tournament in the Middle East.
Jack during Coco Gauff’s match.
“The whole experience was so nice, I really enjoyed my time here,” said Jack, who also plays tennis.
The 14-year-old had the opportunity to be a ball kid in matches featuring two-time Grand Slam winner Coco Gauff and world number five Jessica Pegula, who went on to win the tournament.
“It was amazing to be on the court for their matches. I never thought I would get an opportunity like this to be on the court with these big stars. It’s a dream come true moment,” Jack said.
Riley was happy to see the smile on Jack’s face when he entered the Centre Court for Gauff’s match.
“You know, when I returned to the UK in 1989, tennis was a very elite sport. I wanted to make it accessible for the public, and that’s why I started my company, which runs public tennis courts, and we also have padel courts now. So I feel so happy to be able to give Jack this opportunity,” he said.
The opportunity for a young tennis fan to be on the centre court here would have never happened if Riley had not worked in Dubai.
“I have deep gratitude for Dubai because working here back in the day gave me the confidence to start my business in the UK,” he said.
“Now I have more than a hundred staff and a hundred tennis and padel courts in the UK. You know, I was a very shy young man in my early 20s when I arrived in Dubai.
“But I grew into confidence when I attended the community events in Dubai, when everybody knew everybody, it was such a small place those days.”
As Dubai went on to grow exponentially, Riley also evolved into a confident man who could inspire a young boy to dream.
“Meeting Coco and Pegula and doing the ballkid’s role in their matches have now inspired me to play tennis more seriously,” Jack said.
“I will work hard on my game to be able to play in big tournaments like Dubai one day!”
Source: Khaleej Times