David Miller

Dave has been inspiring people to play hockey in the North East since the 1970s. Barely a hockey player will have come through the junior Durham and North East ranks or through Durham University without having benefited from Dave's coaching, mentoring or stewardship, including potential members of the Team GB hockey teams in 2012. Quite simply, he epitomises the spirit of selfless volunteering without which British sport would not be what it is today.

Dave was a college tutor at Durham University and I became one of his tutees when I arrived in the Autumn of 1996. Not only did Dave and his wife help me and others settle into life away from home, providing a surrogate parental relationship for those of us away from home for the first time, he also encouraged us to pursue a balanced life embracing academia, social life and, most notably, sport.

Dave was the President of Durham University Hockey Club from 1996 until 2010; during his tenure, the club flourished to become one of the most successful hockey clubs in the country, not just in the university leagues or North East. He also coached the juniors of Durham City and North East hockey as well as sitting on countless local and regional hockey committees.

Dave is an administrator, a coach, a mentor and a gentleman, the sort of character that has quietly inspired generations of new hockey players. For that reason, I am nominating Dave to run with the torch, something I know he would be humbled and truly honoured to do.