Award-winning Long Lawford football coach is in field of his own

When it comes to helping others, Long Lawford football coach David Dalton is in a field of his own.

David, who coaches Lawford Utd FC Little Lightnings along with Simon Ward, is the winner of the new Jamie Rees Club Person of the Year Award.

It’s the first year of the award as a club and the winner was selected by Simon and Naomi Issitt, Jamie’s mother.

Simon said: “David, who has Down syndrome, is a great role model to the children he helps to coach. Just by being himself he embodies everything that the club is about and he teaches the children all about acceptance and inclusion.

"I know we have lots of fantastic individuals within the club who go above and beyond and this was a really tough decision.”

David, who is popular with all the players, was selected as the winner for his work with the players.

Simon added: “The children absolutely love David.

"A parent commented that he always says hello to all the children that he coaches and those that used to train with him but have now moved up to older age groups. He is much better with names than I am! In fact every time we see him he stops to talk.”

Naomi presented a life-saving portable defibrillator to the Long Lawford football club in memory of her son Jamie. The 18 year old Rugby College student suffered a cardiac arrest on New Year’s Day while out with friends last year. He later died in hospital.

The club’s Little Lightnings, U7s, U9s and U11s now have the Resuscitation Council UK’s heart shaped CPQR code on their kits. They will also soon be introduced on the new U7s kits.

When scanned by a smartphone, the code – which was featured on Brentford FCs shirts in a match against Chelsea – directs people to a two-minute video on how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

To find out more about the Our Jay charity and Naomi’s mission to help save lives in memory of her son, visit https://ourjay.org.uk/