Wimbledon All England Lawn Tennis Club
The start of Wimbledon is eagerly anticipated by tennis fans around the world. It might even be one of the most talked about sporting events on the planet. This prestigious grand slam tennis tournament is the highlight of every tennis fans year. It’s not just about point, game, set and match! But does the tournament really cater to everyone’s needs? Is Wimbledon vegan ready?
Wimbledon & Veganism
When thinking of Wimbledon, you don’t really associate it with veganism. But is that all changing? Are we seeing the rise of a more compassionate and cruelty-free Wimbledon? In this article we delve deep into this notion. We look at the factors that determine the answer to the question on every vegans mind at this time of the year. Is Wimbledon vegan friendly or not?
Tennis Equipment
Every tennis player needs his/her tools. Without the necessary tennis equipment we would probably just be watching people aimlessly running around a tennis court. No one wants to see that, do they? But have you ever stopped to wonder what tennis equipment is really made of? We have done some digging to find out what materials and methods tennis brands are using to manufacture their products. Warning, if you continue reading you may be shocked by what we found out!
Tennis Rackets
A tennis racket to a tennis player is like a steering wheel to a racing car driver, a golf club to a golfer or a football to a football player. They just can’t perform without it. It’s the tool of their trade and without it they can’t compete. So really a tennis racket is essentially an extension of a tennis player’s arm. Did you know that some tennis rackets are not vegan? Some manufacturers make strings from animals intestines. This barbaric practice started in the 18th century and still continues on to this day. Some tennis racket grips are also made of leather. Surely we can create materials that rival and even super seed gut for tennis rackets. The Caavakushi team feel strongly that the use of gut for tennis racket strings is something we as a vegan community should be petitioning against. How do you feel about it?
Vegan Tennis Racket Strings & Grip
Fear not if you want to enjoy a spot of tennis this summer, we have the perfect cruelty-free option for you. If you’re vegan or simply don’t want animal guts sprawled out across your tennis racket or a leather grip, we’ve taken the liberty to picked out a few vegan options for you.
Vegan Tennis Racket Strings
Prince Synthetic Gut with Duraflex 17g tennis string
Prince Synthetic Gut with Duraflex Tennis String Set-17 Gauge-White
Wilson Synthetic Gut Power 200 M Reel Racket Strings
Vegan Tennis Racket Grip
Raquex Replacement PU Racquet Grip
Raquex Replacement PU Racquet Grip 4 pack
Tennis Balls
It may actually come as a bit of a shock to you to find out that tennis balls of all things are problematic. Some tennis balls are not vegan friendly. But does it really surprise you from a sport that condones animal intestines being used in equipment? Probably not. Most tennis balls made by well known brands are not plant-based, vegan or cruelty-free. They are made from wool of the backs of sheared sheep. The tennis ball brand that the Wimbledon tournament uses currently is Slazenger and they are not vegan friendly. Each ball is made out of wool and other components. Shame on you Slazenger for using wool & Wimbledon for using the brand.
Vegan Tennis Balls
Fortunately, we were able to track down a tennis ball brand that is actually vegan friendly. Thank the heavens!
Tennis Net
Do you know what the tennis nets at Wimbledon are made out of? It might be a relief to hear that most tennis nets are actually vegan friendly. Tennis nets are normally made from a combination of cruelty-free materials. Some nets contain the following materials: steel mesh, PVC, polyethylene and nylon. These materials are chosen as they last longer in the unpredictable and always changing outdoor elements.
Tennis Attire
Wimbledon is one of the oldest tennis tournaments on the to tour. It has its own very old and rigid rules. The tournament has one of the strictest dress codes on the tour. In fact, it has the strictest dress code of all the four major grand slams.
Players Outfits
It’s common knowledge that players at Wimbledon are forbidden to wear anything but the colour white. Men normally wear shorts and a t-shirt. Whereas women usually wear dresses or skirts/shorts that are paired with a t-shirt. Most outfits are made of cotton and synthetic fibres.
Vegan Tennis Outfits For Men:
Tennis T-Shirt
NIKE Men’s Academy 21 Training Top T-Shirt
Under Armour Men UA Tech 2.0 SS Tee
Tennis Shorts
PUMA Men’s Liga Shorts Core Training Shorts
NIKE Men’s M Nk Dry Acd21 Short K
Vegan Tennis Outfits For Women:
Tennis T-Shirt
NIKE Women’s Pro Short-Sleeve Mesh Top
Adidas Women’s Tech Bos Tee T-Shirt
Tennis Dress
PUMA Women’s Tennis Club Dress
Tennis Skirt
Adidas Melbourne Line women’s skirt
Adidas Women’s T19 Skort W Skirt
Tennis Shorts
NIKE Women’s W Nk Dry Park Iii Short Nb K Sport Shorts
Under Armour Women’s Play Up Shorts
Vegan Tennis Outfits For Girls:
Tennis Skirt
HEAD Children’s Club Basic Girls Skort
Tennis Dress
Freebily Junior Kids Girls Pleated Tennis Dress
Tennis T-Shirt
PUMA Unisex Kids Teamliga Jersey Jr Shirt
Tennis Shorts
PUMA Unisex Kids Teamliga Sideline Shorts Jr Shorts
PUMA Children’s LIGA Core Shorts
Vegan Tennis Outfits For Boys:
Tennis T-Shirt
PUMA Unisex Kids Teamliga Jersey Jr Shirt
Tennis Shorts
PUMA Unisex Kids Teamliga Sideline Shorts Jr Shorts
PUMA Children’s LIGA Core Shorts
Shoes
Shoes are also very much part of the strict dress code. All tennis players must wear tennis shoes that are made for grass surfaces only. This is purely so that the players can move freely around the court without causing injury to themselves. It also helps to maintain the integrity of the courts for as long as possible during the tournament and throughout the year. But as most people are probably aware, tennis shoes and other sneaker brands generally are made of leather.
Vegan Tennis Shoes For Men
HEAD Revolt Court Men’s Tennis Shoes
Superdry Men’s Vegan Sleek Court Trainer Sneaker
Vegan Tennis Shoes For Women
Superdry Women’s Vegan Court Sp Tennis Sneaker
Vegan Tennis Shoes For Girls
Vegan Tennis Shoes For Boys
Accessories
The tennis world has a number of accessories that are helpful to players on the court. Some of them are normally made of cruelty-free materials like sweat bands and headbands. But others are sometimes made using materials that are derived from animals. Unfortunately, sometimes tennis bags that contain rackets or even gym bags have some parts which are made with leather or other non vegan components. Thankfully we managed to find some vegan options for you below.
Vegan Tennis Accessories:
Vegan Socks
Under Armour Unisex Core Ultra Low
Vegan Sweat Band
Vegan Headband
Vegan Water Bottle
Vegan Racket Bags
HEAD Unisex’s Core Combi Racket Bag
Vegan Gym Bags
Adidas Linear Core Medium Duffel Bag
Hair
Over the years at Wimbledon we have seen many questionable hairstyles and hair accessories. But were they vegan friendly? Some hair extensions and wigs are actually made from animal hair such as horses mixed with human and synthetic. So it is very difficult to know if players are wearing extensions and hair pieces that are vegan and cruelty-free.
Vegan Wigs For Women
Long Brown Wig Synthetic Wavy Wig
Vegan Wigs For Men
Mens Wig Brown Short Layered Natural Wave Synthetic Male Wig
Vegan Hair Extensions
Vegan Hair Accessories
Tennis Officials
Much like any other major sporting events, tennis matches need officials. The officials help make sure the match is played fairly by both sides. A uniform is normally worn to help players and spectators to identify officials such as referees, lines men, ball boys/girls and umpires.
Officials Outfits
For many years now the officials at Wimbledon have been dressed by Ralph Lauren. Everyone working at Wimbledon has a uniform designed by Ralph Lauren. The main colours that are used in all the uniforms are the traditional Wimbledon colours, purple, green and white. Ralph Lauren does make some cruelty-free clothing options but the company as a whole is not entirely vegan. They do sell bags and other accessories that are made from animal skins. That’s why we can’t say with certainty the clothing that the officials wear at the tournament is 100% vegan and cruelty-free.
Dining At Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Club
Dining at the All England Tennis Club is quite the experience. But is it a good experience for vegans? The Wimbledon tennis Club has a few restaurants and bars to choose from. The Wingfield Restaurant, Centenary Seafood Bar, Walled Garden, Tea Lawn Bar, The Parkside Larder and so many more. We’ll hopefully get to discuss these in more detail in a later article.
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Drinks
Being that Wimbledon is bang smack in the middle of the British summer, there’s always drinks served at the club. The Caavakushi team personally feel as though they are lacking slightly in the vegan friendly drinks department. It couldn’t hurt to have a bit more variety, could it?
Alcoholic beverages
Wimbledon is actually famous for one alcoholic beverage in particular. Any guesses? If you’ve ever seen Wimbledon on TV or have had the pleasure of visiting, you’ll have known it’s Pimm’s. Thankfully this drink does not contain any animal derivatives. That means Pimm’s is vegan friendly. But unfortunately we cannot say the same for some of the other drinks on the menu at Wimbledon. Some wines, champagne and spirits on the Wimbledon menus are not actually vegan friendly. So keep in mind that it’s important to do your homework before ordering any drinks at Wimbledon.
Wimbledon Vegan Soft drinks
Soft drinks are normally a safe bet for vegans. That’s because most soft drink companies use vegan friendly ingredients to create their beverages. But a small percentage of soft drinks do have ingredients that contain animal derivatives or have been tested on animals. Now let’s see how Wimbledon’s soft drinks stack up in this department. Have they chosen all vegan friendly, soft drink options? Most of their soft drinks are in fact vegan friendly such as mineral water, Sprite, Coca-Cola, Oasis and Ribena.
Food At Wimbledon
The food at Wimbledon can vary in price greatly depending on where you go to eat. Thankfully most of the restaurants, cafes, bars & food stalls seem to have at least one vegan choice available on their menus. Be sure to read our next article on Wimbledon, where we look deeper into the food options available at the tournament for vegans.
Strawberries & Cream
One of the most iconic foods at Wimbledon is strawberries and cream. But as we all know, cream is a dairy product and is not vegan friendly. Does Wimbledon have dairy-free strawberries and cream options for vegans? The Caavakushi team was delighted to hear that the tournament actually offer dairy and vegan cream options.
Is Wimbledon Really Doing All That It Can, To Accommodate Vegans?
At Caavakushi we personally don’t feel as though the Wimbledon All England Tennis Club has done enough to accommodate its vegan players, employees and fans. For starters, there’s not enough vegan food options being served at the tournament. Yes you could argue that collectively there is. But at each individual eatery there’s only a few items on the menu that vegans can eat. The most shocking part of our deep dive was the equipment being used. It is actually quite sad that vegan players cannot use vegan friendly equipment. Of course they have the option of picking a vegan friendly tennis racket. But they don’t have an option to use their own vegan friendly tennis balls.
Thoughts
Now after finding out the facts from this article with our opinions sprinkled in on the side. What are your thoughts about the level of vegan friendliness at Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Club? Have you tried any of the vegan friendly food and drink options at Wimbledon? Will you be visiting Wimbledon this year? Do you feel as though Wimbledon needs to do more to be 100% cruelty-free? We want to know your opinions, let’s discuss this further on the Caavakushi vegan forum. You can also get to know us better on our socials Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, Tumblr and Pinterest. Don’t forget, you can always use the Caavakushi vegan search engine to find out more information about anything vegan.