 | DAVID SPARKES David has been involved in Swimming for over 30 years, having learnt to swim at school he developed a keen interest in the sport and continued to swim both recreationally and competitively with his local swimming club in an open air pool at Droitwich.
David studied to become an engineer and, to assist him financially through his studies, worked as a lifeguard during weekends at the pool during the summer and assisted with the maintenance during the winter for many years.
It was during his time at the pool, and following the building of a new indoor pool at Droitwich, that he developed an interest in teaching and coaching swimming.
After qualifying as an engineer David went on to undertake post-graduate studies in management at Aston University and continued his interest in Swimming.
Eager to gain additional knowledge to pass on to others within his club, David qualified as an ASA Teacher in 1972, as an Advanced Teacher in 1974, ASA Club Coach in 1978 and gained the highest award at that time of the Association, the ASA Coach Certificate, in 1981.
David continued to coach the local swimming club and successfully produced swimmers at National, District and County standard.
Eventually David decided to pursue his business career through his own engineering business based in Stourbridge and pressure of business forced him to move away from practical coaching. However, he continued to maintain his interest in the sport by developing an interest in administration at District and County level, it was not long before he was invited to join a number of National committees’ and indeed served for many years on the ASA Coach Certificate Committee and the ASA Education Committee, where he acted as Chairman for many years.
David was also invited to join a small group to develop the Association’s corporate objectives and this group set may of the key work programmes for the Association which have enabled it to move from strength to strength in recent years.
David continued to work as an amateur within the Association at District and National level, joining the ASA Committee and serving on the ASA Management Committee and as a full member of the ASA Council.
David was appointed as Chief Executive to the Association in 1994 and the skills gained through his business experience have enable him to bring a sharp business focus to the Association and he has continued to bring modern business practice and a keen commercial approach to the Association’s affairs.
David continues to swim on a regular basis and his wife pursues an active interest in the sport as a voluntary swimming teacher and two of his children participate on a regular basis.
David’s contribution to the sport is very wide indeed, he is the author of a book - Swimming for All - and has contributed to a number of other publications on the sport.
|
