YOUTH 03

4. David had a three-part TV series on Setanta Sports that got a ‘huge amount of viewership’ and was ‘brilliant for the sport’.

5. David coaches anyone who is interested in progressing, but when it comes to promoting the sport, he says YouTube is where it’s at.

6. David’s ‘How To’ videos have amassed thousands of views with loads of positive feedback from the Wakeboarding community.“I think that's the way a lot of sports are going. BMX is a fantastic example. Two or three years ago, there were, maybe, four BMX YouTube channels, now there are hundreds and some of them are huge.”

7. David dropped out of college to pursue his dream professionally. He feels he’s learnt plenty from the business side of the sport: “I've learnt how to sell, market and even create products and services. In my opinion, no degree or course could have taught me as much.”

8. David has created an innovative coaching tool called DOCwake.com. Described as ‘coaching in the modern age’, DOCwake provides an online interactive service for wakeboarders who want to up their game but can’t afford lessons from a pro.

9. David cares more about bringing the sport to mainstream prominence than winning competitions: “I'd absolutely love for wakeboarding to get into the Olympics. It would be like a turbo growth of the sport. Obviously, the injection of funding would be phenomenal, but nothing compared to the raised awareness and participation.”

10. David is realistic that there’s very little hope of wakeboarding making it to the games for 2020, but, with the ever-changing structure of the Olympics, he believes 2024 could be a possibility “In the meantime I'll just do everything I can to promote the sport, and just keep every finger, toe and limb crossed!”