THREE of Bathurst rising stars are set to join Australia’s home grown talents such as Nick Kyrgios, Bernard Tomic and Samantha Stosur at Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre when the annual Apia International tournament commences in January next year.

They will all take to the court and focus their attention on being quick and agile in front of large crowds.

However, Bathurst trio Sebastian Seaman plus Gabby and Dominique Mitton will not have racquet in hand – instead they will be acting as ball kids.

They made the cut-off in recent trials to join the ball kid squad for the ATP and WTA World Tour event, which is one of the most popular lead-up tournaments for the Australian Open.

The Homebush trials last month saw 60 applicants trying out to be a part of the tournament for the first time.

All three Bathurst talents were notified after the day’s efforts that they had made the final cut of 28 players, showing they had the agility and fitness to score a spot.

“The opportunity sort of popped up and Andrew [Mitton] asked if I was interested in it and I said ‘Yeah, I’ll give it go and see what happens’,” Seaman said.

“We spent about three hours out on court throwing the ball to a partner and rolling them, as well as just running drills,” Dominique Mitton added.

Bathurst Tennis Centre’s Andrew Mitton said it was a great effort for all three to impress at the tough selection trial.

“They were taken over several hours on the court running through drills and skills. That was non-stop work over that time. They’d look at things like where they stand and their movement around the court,” he said.

“They would then iron out those there who weren’t throwing well or rolling it straight. They’re pretty strict on those things.

“It would be great to see more kids keen to head down and experience this. It’s all volunteering though. They have their clothes and shoes provided, but have to find their own accommodation.”

All that is left to decide is where they will be allocated for the tournament, with the trio facing the exciting prospect of working on centre court alongside some of the top ranked players in tennis.

The Sydney International gets underway from January 12.