Dave is the founder and owner of Whirlaway Sports Center, which just celebrated its fortieth anniversary this year. He is a former All-American cross-country runner from Methuen High School, where he later coached Track. Dave is also the coach of the highly competitive Whirlaway Racing Team, one of the most decorated USATF teams in New England.

Whirlaway Sports Center has received many accolades over its forty years. It has been voted one of the Top Running Specialty Stores in the country numerous times. Other accolades include repeatedly being named Best Sporting Goods Store by North Shore Magazine, Best of the Merrimack Valley, Best of the Andovers, and Best Sporting Goods Store by the Lawrence Eagle Tribune.

Dave is gratified to have cultivated a sports-minded community within which Whirlaway is the hub. His customers and employees are family members to Dave, and “family” has been a theme of Whirlaway’s enduring success. Dave prides himself on his phenomenal management team. His managers, and most of Whirlaway’s employees, are long-term, having committed from 15 to 25 years.

Dave is most passionate about customer service. He has said it often: “If our customers don’t leave the store saying, ‘Wow,’ then we have not done our job.”

Dave and his staff host highly successful theme nights, seasonally or annually. Some celebrations have included Ladies Nights, Track Spike Nights, and his favorite: Captains Nights, which bring in over 25 captains from 15 local high schools for a night of games, gifts, and presentations about leadership. Whirlaway focuses on service and charity in the community, too, with many race sponsorships, donations of shoes to high schools and homeless shelters, and sponsorship of special needs student interns at the store. Two of his favorite races to support annually are the Feaster Five Thanksgiving Race – one of the largest races in New England – and Run for the Troops, as they benefit deserving schools, soup kitchens, scholarship recipients, and veterans in Massachusetts.

Dave has recently brought the growing pickleball category into the store. He loves dinking with customers, has a related newsletter and educational video series, and has been highly successful in this endeavor. He also loves playing the game and shares his enthusiasm with other pickleball fanatics who come to the store to buy products and talk pickleball. Dave is excited to share his thoughts and advice about the category.