BORN APRIL 1ST, 1973, he was a homegrown 182cm (6'0') forward who began skating when he was 8 years-old and hockey at 10, the same year he represented his State in the inaugural President's Cup U13 championships in Adelaide (now the Ginsberg Trophy). He repeated that in 1984 in Perth, then once more in 1985 in Canberra, along with the inaugural Defris U15 national. In 1986, he played both Defris and Tange U18 tournaments, still only 13 years-old.
In 1987 he was awarded a Canadian Airlines scholarship through the national association to train and play with the Winnipeg Raiders for a fortnight [1] and he also competed in the Defris, Tange and the local U21 competition. He represented Australia in the National Youth Team in the Asian-Oceana U18 tournament in Seoul in 1990. He played with the Canberra Knights in the New South Wales Super League from 1993, became captain for the 2000 season, and continued to play until 2009, averaging about 0.6 points per game. He helped win the ACT's only Goodall Cup in 1998 and represented Australia in five senior World Championships — 1993, 1994, 1996, 2000 and 2003 — winning the Bronze Medal in Iceland (2000).
Ross Carpenter, 'Batho, David Ashley (1973 - )', Legends of Australian Ice, Melbourne, Australia, http://icelegendsaustralia.com/bio_batho.html, accessed online .
[1] National Ice News, National Ice Sports, Vol 2, No 1, 1988.