Dave comes to Wellington from Canterbury where as a junior he entered the coaching scene in a program overseen by Davis Cup Captain and New Zealand’s leading Performance coach at the time, Glenn Wilson. Although always more passionate about coaching than playing, Dave was part of the Canterbury regional junior squads and went on to play representative tennis for Canterbury on a number of occassions. Dave achieved this without having any private lessons and he still battles away in the Wellington Regional competition on most Saturdays over Summer and enjoys giving Andy a good run for his money every now and then. Dave also competed in cross country running and dragon boating (Gold) at a National level and continues to be a competitive rugby player so is well conditioned to the demands of being successful in sport.
Dave is a passionate student of tennis and has continued to up-skill himself across a number of sources, including through close mentoring from Andy. He brings energy and enthusiasm to his entry level lessons yet he has also coached a number of highly ranked juniors to semi-finals and finals at the National level. This included coaching two players who respectively came from New Plymouth and Masterton for coaching, to a main draw doubles final. In April 2012 he was selected as the Central Under 12 girls coach and led this team to a Gold medal at the National Teams event over highly fancied opposition in Albany. He is quite possibly the youngest coach to achieve this honour and helped mould a team spirit which resulted in confident and professional displays of tennis from all of the girls in the team. Dave’s involvement at the higher level has also extended to coaching the Central Combined team and he is also part of the wider Regional Performance coaching team. In May 2012, Dave was the youngest coach ever to obtain the ATPCA level 3 Master Pro Qualification in Sydney, Australia. This was an intense four day course with Dave’s reports at the end of it deemed of “excellent quality.” Dave also has a Law Degree and Bachelor of Arts (History/Development Studies) from Victoria University yet has chosen coaching as his desired career path and is driven towards success in this field just like he was throughout his studies. Dave is a Tennis NZ registered and police checked coach who thrives upon pushing people to meet their tennis goals, whatever the scale or level of these.
Questions and Answers with Dave
Q: What five words best describe you?
A: Honest, Goofy, Driven, Hobbit, Passionate
Q: What is your favourite tennis shot?
A: The ‘no-look-spin-around-reverse’ shot
Q: Which movies rate amongst your favourites?
A: Pay It Forward and The Lion King
Q: What other intersts do you have outside of tennis?
A: Rugby, spa pools, reading, Africa and Space
Q: What is your ultimate goal you have as a tennis coach?
A: For those I coach to meet their goals and invent a game better than jail.
Q: What is something most people don’t know about you?
A: I’ve been knocked out playing table tennis
Q: Who are you celebrity idols?
A: Patch Adams, Chris lilley and Emma Watson
Q: How long have you been playing tennis and coaching?
A: Playing since 1995, coaching since 2003