lovely things people have said about me!

‘David has a unique ability to build rapport with and understand the needs of young people. His understanding of the landscape of sport and how to support the wellbeing of young people has been the key to maintaining my child’s happiness as she navigates the performance pathway.’

(Rachael Mackenzie - world Thai boxing champion, coach developer, motivational speaker, and more.)

‘David has coached my daughter over the past four years - in group and one to one sessions. In the last 18 months she has come from being a soft ball player afraid to move on to hard ball, to playing U13 hard ball in the Yorkshire CCC pathway. Her skill, confidence and pure love of the game have come from David's fully rounded coaching approach. Fun always comes first! He genuinely cares about the girls' wellbeing and is highly skilled in building their confidence and resilience to enable them to navigate the inevitable highs and lows. And the technical skills follow! Thank you so much for all you have done to support my daughter, and also everything you've done so generously to build the girls' and women's sections at our club.’

(Kay Thompson-Barker - Executive Coach.)

‘Everyone I speak to sings your praises as a coach. You teach with kindness and laughter. And that sits highly with a lot of people.’

‘From our point of view, your sessions with [child] have made a huge difference to her mindset, in terms of friends, school and cricket. She has really benefited from your time. It was important for her to have someone to talk to that understood cricket and the pressures involved, not her Mum or Dad!’

‘You have a natural talent of making people feel comfortable and welcome.’

‘The big advantage you have is the understanding of mental wellbeing within cricket - especially for girls playing at a high level, and being able to tie this in with general mental health issues e.g. this helped [child] to realise that cricket wasn't the cause of all her problems.’

‘You spent many hours updating me and [child's dad], to help us support [child]. As a parent, the feeling that you can't do anything to help is horrendous, so having someone that [child] trusted and could talk to was invaluable. Importantly for us, you didn't cut us out of the process - we were involved and kept updated all the time, whilst keeping her conversations confidential.’

‘The long-term support and care you offer is very important. [Child] has said a number of times that knowing you will be there to talk to if needed gives her a confidence boost and helps her to deal with things herself.’

‘[Child] says I have to let you know that all the girls in her group think you're amazing. They really appreciate the chance to talk and be themselves. She says you put them all at ease.’

‘[Parent] couldn’t speak highly enough about you, she’s so impressed with the time and effort you’ve put in to supporting [child]. People don’t always hear the good stuff, so thought I’d pass it on!’

‘Her dad got a bit emotional this morning when he was talking about how you are with her. As parents we really appreciate it you know.’

‘I just feel you get the best out of them. Certainly [child]. Usually she’d be so upset with what happened today but she bounced back quickly.’

‘She (child) always talks about you and how much you help her.’

‘The first thing she's ask is if you're going to be there. Knowing she can talk to you helps her.’

‘When a door is opened [to Yorkshire] you have to walk through it and own the room inside. That is actually what you did.’

‘We’ as a family hold you with high regard. I cannot put into words how you have changed [child's] life for the better. She was lost, struggling with confidence, her autistic tendencies, friendships until she found cricket via you.’

‘The girls would not be the team they are without you.’

(After one session) ‘You have helped her so much already, she was so confident last night.’

‘[Child] has asked me to text you, she's got into the squad!! Thanks for helping lift her confidence before the trials! She told you before she told family and friends!’

‘You are her role model - she idolises you & she’s really not like this with many people.’