How to keep it up

Photo credit: Daniel Cutting

Many men have problems keeping it up, especially under pressure, but Daniel Cutting certainly isn’t one of them.

Before your mind starts racing, I’m not about to launch into a discussion about male impotency; I’m talking about the all-important football keepy-uppy of course (what are you like?!).

Daniel is a three-time world record holder in football freestyling. If you haven’t seen him in action, you definitely should; it’ll blow your mind.

Not only has he won a plethora of awards and accolades, he has put some of the world’s top footballing talents to shame in the process.

The young trickster first made his name back in 2006 when he entered the UK Pringles Keepy-Uppy Championships. He was crowned champion after managing 28 keep-uppies with a Pringles can, leaving Steven Gerrard and Roberto Carlos eating his dust!

Other claims to fame including body-doubling for Kaka in adverts and performing at a party attended by Dirk Kuyt and Robbie Fowler.

This guy is seriously talented. But although he clearly has a natural aptitude as a freestyler and entertainer, he didn’t learn his routines overnight. He has spent hour after hour perfecting his skills from a very young age. And it is this patience and dedication that has got him where he is today.

"I started practicing at secondary school age," he tells Sorted. "Every day after school a friend and I went out in the street and practiced keepy-uppies for hours on end."

And despite his success, Daniel has kept both feet firmly on the ground (when he’s not doing his tricks, that is). Despite having met some of his great footballing heroes, he still makes time to see his friends, go to the cinema and strum away on his guitar.

Daniel leads the worship at his church in Milton Keynes and takes part in plenty of youth, community and school events – both in Christian and secular settings. He is happy to share his skills with others and has held several workshops for youngsters to learn new tricks.

He says: "I believe God has given me a gift, and although I have obviously worked very hard practising and perfecting it, I want to bring glory to God through the person I am and the skills that I have."

Read the full story in the upcoming issue of Sorted magazine.

Follow Daniel on Twitter: @dcfreestyle.