GEMMA CAMPBELL-ALEXANDER

Cheer & Dance

Gemma’s dedication to DM Diamondz is truly exceptional. She coaches five days a week, consistently giving her time, energy, and expertise to support the development of our athletes. In addition to her regular coaching commitments, she regularly sacrifices her weekends to provide extra one-to-one training sessions and attend competitions, ensuring every athlete has the opportunity to reach their full potential.

As Head Choreographer for all of our Cheer and Dance teams, Gemma plays a pivotal role in the success of the club. She spends countless hours creating innovative routines, selecting and editing music, and designing choreography that showcases the strengths of each individual athlete and team. Her creativity, attention to detail, and passion for excellence are evident in every performance.

Beyond choreography, Gemma invests significant time planning engaging and progressive class content, ensuring athletes continue to develop their skills, confidence, and love for the sport. Her commitment extends far beyond what is expected, and her tireless work behind the scenes is a major reason for the growth, success, and positive culture within DM Diamondz.

Gemma’s passion, dedication, and unwavering commitment make a lasting impact on every athlete she works with. She is an invaluable member of the DM Diamondz family and a true role model for young people both within and beyond the sport.

Under Gemma’s leadership, DM Diamondz has achieved outstanding success at both National and International Championships. Her dedication, expertise, and vision have helped develop athletes and teams that consistently perform at the highest level.

This season has been particularly remarkable, with three of our teams remaining undefeated throughout the entire competitive season – an incredible achievement that reflects the hard work, commitment, and preparation that Gemma invests in every athlete and routine.

Gemma’s creativity and innovation have also been recognised by industry professionals, with her routines earning prestigious Judges’ Choreography Awards as well as Stand Out Team Awards. These accolades highlight not only the technical excellence of her work but also her ability to create memorable performances that leave a lasting impression on judges and audiences alike.

On the world stage, Gemma has led teams to incredible success, achieving both Gold and Bronze medals at the World Championships. These achievements are a testament to her dedication, coaching ability, and unwavering belief in her athletes.

Continuing this legacy of success, two of our teams have recently been awarded bids to compete once again at the World Championships in Florida this coming April. Receiving a bid to such a prestigious event is a significant accomplishment and reflects the high standard that Gemma consistently inspires within the programme.

While the medals, trophies, and awards are impressive, Gemma’s greatest achievement is creating an environment where athletes are empowered to believe in themselves, strive for excellence, and achieve goals they never thought possible. Her passion, leadership, and commitment continue to drive DM Diamondz forward and inspire the next generation of athletes.

SEAN JAMIESON

Football

Sean coaches the girls for 1.5 hours two nights a week and they have a game each weekend. The games can be local, usually clydeview, or as far as Alness.  He spends hours of his free time editing footage of the game, preparing analysis to give the girls feedback, setting up training drills, preparing social media content and chatting to parents on the phone. In one week alone he probably spends about 10-15 hours outwith training on this voluntary role.

The girls league doesn’t have as many teams so Sean is constantly seeking out friendlies to give the girls constant game time. He also organises fundraising and sponsorship to ensure the girls have kit and training equipment. He helped to fundraise to get a Veo camera which has been game changing for the team. They can watch back games, live stream games, slice and cut the action and use this for improving. 

With the Morton whites girls regional under 14s last season he helped the team to win the West Region u14s Girls League Plate 2024. There was then the Cumbernauld Colts Summer Festival Tournament which they comfortably won, winning three games out of four.

Next came the grading games to decide what tier the girls went into. They sailed through these with four wins out of four with an amazing twenty eight goals scored and only one conceded.

The girls then went on to win the league that season becoming the 2025 Tier 1 u14s West
Leanne Crighton League Champions. Again with an outstanding record of playing thirteen games and winning twelve, drawing one. Finishing with an amazing goal difference of +34.

Sean has given his all to the girls over the years. He has helped girls move on to other clubs, whether this is progression or just a move. His dedication to the girls is unrivalled and is spurred on by his true passion for getting the girls game the credit it deserves. 

DAVID McCALLUM

Shoto Budo

David is the lead instructor for Tuesday (Greenock) and Wednesday (Inverkip) classes, he assists and occasionally leads Thursday (Wemyss Bay) classes. He plans the activities, practices the activities, sources new routines and  experiments with different training strategies for each class. His normal coaching hours total around 240 for the year with additional events he attends for his own training and development as a coach his hours of commitment go well beyond 400 hours this year. Between local courses he has developed and delivered, travel to Finland and training for 4 days in new methods, hosting adult practices and obtaining lottery funding, his time commitment has been vast this year. He has also worked extensively with coaches from Newcastle to develop his own knowledge and coaching strategies, he works very closely with the organisations technical directory and is working to develop various text and image formats to allow his students to work on their own practice at home and develop a question led culture at practice. 

When David started in Shoto Budo the club seemed to be thriving with juniors and seniors. They had large numbers in all days. Slowly this began to wain as various coaches left the organisation and training became mundane and routine. Our own daughter would reflect how boring she found practice and she was on the verge of quitting. David really stepped up when he became brown belt and travelling to Finland gave him a major confidence boost that he has brought back to the clubs. While in Finland he spoke to the Shihan (leaders of the organisation) and he shared his desire to make the Greenock clubs great again. He introduced innovative practices, some worked and some did not. He’s taken the children in his clubs on a collective journey together where they can try new things and explore their own martial arts. He has received funding from local groups and the national lottery to pay for 6 weeks of free classes for new members and fund half of the cost for his juniors travelling and staying at the organisations junior national. He has driven up numbers on Tuesdays and made it the largest Shoto Budo club in Inverclyde once again. Wednesday Inverkip class has expanded to include a small but consistent junior section. The Thursday class benefits from his continued learning and support. His coaching extends beyond the Dojo as several of his students are approaching university/college age. As his full time job is a lecturer, many students turn to him for academic guidance. One in particular has become like a second son, he has supported him to achieve his senior black belt, along side tutoring him in Biology and helping him access medical school. David feels very passionate about all forms of education and I imagine there will be many more individuals who will benefit from a holistic coach like David. He is not only a coach in the dojo, he supports his students wherever they are. 

KIAN McNELIS

Swimming

In January 2026 Inverclyde Amateur Swimming Club had to deal with the significant loss that our much loved and highly regarded Head Coach, Shirley Reford, had decided to retire. That left the Club with a huge void to fill, not only in the leadership of the Club, but in designing training sessions and covering those coaching sessions. Kian McNelis was one of the coaches who stepped up to the challenge significantly and all while he was in the final year of his University degree. Kian coaches a wide variety of different squads within the Club - from our younger, less experienced swimmers at Introduction level all the way through to the Youth Performance Squad at the top end of the Club chain. Kian has an amazing nature that allows him to be a very popular member of our coaching team with all our different swimmers. Evidence of Kian's great coaching ability and popularity are that he was the Coach of this year's Clyde Coach Mini-League team, that covers swimmers from 7yrs to 12 yrs and he led the team to a very respectable 3rd place finish in the B final, held in Dumfries in June 2026. He will also be one of three coaches who travel to Lanzarote with our more experienced swimmers for their training camp in October and Kian will be heavily involved in the organisation of that trip and designing the training plans that the swimmers will be following. He was also an integral part of the coaching team that led the Club to a 7th place finish nationally in Scottish Swimming's National League in 2025 and will be significant Coach within our 2026 team. Kian also regularly gives up time at the weekends to assist with coaching swimmers at various different regional galas that take part all over the area and covers a wide variety of different levels within those galas.

Kian has been a huge part of the survival of Inverclyde ASC over the last few years. He has attended various different fund-raising activities designed to improve the club finances and has also played a huge part in the smooth transition following the departure of previous Head Coach, Shirley Reford to the successes still being achieved today under new Head Coach, Billy Binnie. Kian played a huge part in the coaching for both Head Coaches and has been integral in embedding the skills and attitude in our swimmers at an early age that is now playing out to many of them swimming and achieving honours at National level. Kian has an amazing attitude, where nothing is too much trouble. He gets on well with swimmers and parents alike and is an incredibly popular and well loved individual. He recently gave up his weekend, where he initially had other plans to help take swimmers to an outdoor activity weekend at PGL in Daliguise, Perthshire and as mentioned will also be heading to Lanzarote with our older swimmers for a week long training camp.

Swimmers at Inverclyde ASC achieve various different things - for some it is just to just have fun with friends at one of our social events, or even just at a training session, break a personal best at a regional swimming gala, for others it is to win a medal at national level. Kian McNelis will have been heavily involved in making any of those things happen and Inverclyde ASC, its committee members, its swimmers and its parents are very lucky to have him.

CHRIS PAUL

Football

My dad is one of the coaches and managers of Greenock Juniors 2009s and spends around 15-20 hours every week helping the team. This includes training, matches, organising things behind the scenes, speaking to parents, fundraising, arranging events and making sure everything runs properly.

What makes him different is that he cares about the boys away from football as much as he does on the pitch. Loads of coaches help at training, but my dad is always there if any of the players are struggling with things at school, home, confidence, mental health or anything else going on in their lives. He takes time to speak to people individually and makes sure nobody gets left behind.

This season has been one of the best the team has ever had. We reached the West Region Cup Final out of around 70 teams and have competed against some of the best teams in the country. My dad has played a huge part in that by setting high standards, encouraging us and helping us believe in ourselves. He always wants us to work hard, be disciplined and respect each other.
One thing that really stands out to me is how he supports players when things are tough.

Last year I had a serious knee injury and needed surgery. It was a difficult time because I couldn't play football for a long period. My dad made sure I still felt part of the team. He encouraged me to come along, helped me get involved in coaching, and supported me to start working towards my coaching badges. Instead of feeling left out, I still felt like I had an important role within the group and it helped me stay positive while I recovered.

Away from football, he has helped players with things like volunteering opportunities, school issues, work experience and planning for the future. He genuinely wants all of us to do well in life, not just football. A lot of boys in our team have faced challenges outside the game and he has always been someone they can speak to and trust.

Being his son, I probably see more than most people how much time he gives up for the team. There are loads of nights and weekends spent doing things for us when he could be doing something else. He never looks for credit and always puts the boys first.

I think my dad deserves Coach of the Year because he has helped create a team that feels like a family. He's helped us become better footballers, but more importantly better young men. I know loads of the boys and parents would say the same thing.

The impact my dad has had this season goes far beyond football results, although they have been brilliant too.

On the pitch, he has helped lead the team to two major cup finals, the P&D League Cup Final (lost on pens) and the West Region Cup Final. To reach the West Region Final from around 70 teams is an incredible achievement and gave our team the chance to represent Inverclyde on one of the biggest stages in youth football. He has helped build a team that works hard for each other, believes in itself and never gives up.

Off the pitch is where I think his biggest impact has been. Throughout the season, my dad has faced some difficult personal challenges of his own, but no matter what was going on he still showed up for the boys. He was always at training, always at matches and always available if someone needed support. I think that says a lot about the type of person he is.

My dad also runs his own charity, which supports people with mental health and suicide prevention, but he has always stayed involved in football because he believes it is one of the best ways to connect with young people. This season he brought his Beyond the Pitch project into the team, which gave all of the players the chance to learn more about mental health, wellbeing, resilience and supporting others. Every player in our squad has achieved qualifications and training in mental health and suicide prevention awareness. I don't know many teams that can say that.

The impact of this has been massive. We have become closer as a team, learned how to look out for each other and become more confident talking about things that affect young people. Next season, the plan is for many of the boys to take what they have learned into local schools and help support younger children through football and mentoring. That is something really special that started because of my dad's vision.

One of the biggest achievements this season has been helping make our trip to Barcelona possible. My dad has spent countless hours fundraising, speaking to sponsors, organising events and helping the boys raise money so that as many players as possible can have the opportunity to travel and create memories that will last a lifetime.

He has also used his contacts in the community to help some of the boys access work experience, volunteering opportunities and employment. He is always encouraging us to think about our futures and helping where he can. There are boys in the team who have benefited directly from opportunities they might never have had without his support.

Another thing that stands out is that he never gives up on people. Over the years, players have left football for different reasons, but my dad has always kept the door open and welcomed them back. Because of that, boys have stayed connected to football, their friends and a positive environment when they could easily have drifted away.

Next season my dad is moving into a new role on the club committee. I think that makes this season even more important because it feels like the end of a chapter. He has helped create a team that feels like a family, helped young people on and off the pitch and given opportunities to boys that go far beyond football.

For me, that is why he deserves this award. The finals, trophies and achievements have been amazing, but the real impact has been the difference he has made to the lives of so many young people.