When and why you began parkour:
David began parkour in 2006, just informally jumping around school with his friends. In 2007, David went to his first coached session at Dorchester YMCA. There isn’t much else to say aside from that… it was great and David hasn’t stopped since! David’s nystagmus (involuntary movement of the eye) meant that pretty much any sport which involved hitting a ball was out of the question, which also happened to be 90% of sports covered in school. David was more than happy to find a sport that didn’t involve hitting a ball and which he also really enjoyed.

When and why you began coaching:
David began coaching in 2013. His coaching career started with him simply wanting to share the knowledge of parkour he had obtained over his years of training. David saw this as a natural progression. Over the time he has been coaching, however, his reasons for coaching have shifted. David still intends to pass on his knowledge, but not just in parkour. He wants to coach parkour but also aim to guide people in how to be functional human movers, who participate in physical activity throughout their lives.

Where do you coach?
Dorchester YMCA

Future ambitions:
David is currently studying an undergraduate degree in Sport & Physical Education at Cardiff Metropolitan University. David has a great interest in the areas of physiology and biomechanics and how they can impact our coaching practices and this is one of many potential areas he is interested in looking at during his time at university.

Anything you’d like to add:
When at university, David also trains and competes in trampolining. David started when he joined university and, with a lot of help from his parkour experience, found his feet quickly. David believes that we should all look to challenge ourselves – trampolining and parkour certainly does that for him.