As a child growing up in East London, Flo Damptey dreamed of being a professional footballer.
A star centre back in his youth, Damptey’s dream never materialised, but he then found his calling on the hardwood.
The Westminster Warriors star has been on a whirlwind journey over the last several years which has led him to be a dominating force in the men’s second division, with Westminster being favourites for promotion.
Flo believes that his university basketball experience was integral in helping him develop his game and allowing him to become the player he is today:
“My second year at uni… I was killing it at uni league, I was like literally the LeBron James at my uni.
“Our division was really low, it might have been the lowest, but I was doing whatever I wanted on the court, I must have been averaging 50.”
Importance Of Coaching
Damptey was a standout performer at university and it was only a matter of time before he would be noticed.
As well as gaining incredible confidence from having his way against lower ranked teams, university basketball gave Damptey the opportunity to receive great coaching, which he still credits to this day.
“My Uni coach, her name was Lisa Williams, she helped me a lot, an absolutely amazing coach”.
Great coaching really can make or break a player.
Coach Williams would change Damptey’s life when she introduced him to Julius Joseph, who at the time was head coach of the Westminster Warriors.
Flo confesses that before the meeting he had never considered playing at any kind of professional level.
Damptey even admits that after watching a Warriors practice session, he himself thought he would be out of his depth playing with that level of competition.
“I thought I was nowhere near ready to play this level of basketball. I never thought I was good enough, I’ve always seen myself as a kid that used to play football but now plays basketball because I didn’t make it.”
Striving For Greatness
However, to his and the coaches surprise, Damptey showed up to his first practice and went to work, playing with the same skill and confidence he was showed in university competition.
The shooting guard signed with the Warriors soon after and hasn’t looked back since.
After joining the team at 21, Damptey is now in his fifth season with the Dubs’ and acknowledges his role has changed a lot over the last few seasons.
“I feel like as my games matured a lot more, I see myself as one of the leaders on the team. I’m very vocal, I’m loud and I like to lead by example. I’m not really a scorer I just try and do everything I can to help the team win. Winning is all I care about.”
Thinking Ahead
The east London native has his mind set on success and plans to achieve it at all costs.
The Warriors are in the middle of a very successful season and currently sit in silver in the second division, looking strong promotion contenders. However, for Damptey, promotion is the least he expects for his team:
“I feel like our team is definitely a division one team…I respect the fact that I’ve got to play division two basketball, but I feel like for my team and me personally, its below where we should be…I’m not happy playing division two, I’m not satisfied with myself, especially because I have played division one basketball and the competition is just another level man, it’s so exciting.”
Damptey will not be satisfied until he is back playing at the highest level.
The shooting guard expressed a feeling of guilt as an extra motivator for him, in his team’s promotion push.
Flo had to sit out a year because of university exams which disappointingly ended up being the season that his team were relegated.
Warrior Mentality
Damptey is rightfully upset that he couldn’t contribute to his team’s survival and who knows, had he been able to play, the Warriors could still be in the first division.
Although the squad aren’t there yet, Flo and his teammates clearly already have a division one work ethic with the player putting in an astounding level of commitment into his training:
“Oh man its tough trying to balance everything. We have team practice twice a week, for two hours. But for me team practice alone is not enough for me to be game ready. So, I go to the gym twice a week to weight train, early mornings before work at 7am. On a Friday I also get on the court just to get extra shots up to prepare myself for the weekend’s games.”
Early mornings, late nights and everything in between…For Damptey, that’s what it takes to be the best.
The amount of work players like Damptey put in is staggering, especially when you consider that some teams in the division are not able to pay players.
This level of commitment, which for some players is more of a hobby than a profession, is commendable.
Damptey himself works full time as a teacher, in addition to being a successful YouTuber.
Grit And Grind
The life of a division two player is not an easy one. For players like Damptey, time is fleeting and having success requires a lot of it.
The sacrifices are real and not many athletes are able to balance what these players must.
However, as hard as the lifestyle is, Damptey wouldn’t want it any other way:
“It’s tough but I love it. I enjoy the grind, I really like it. It keeps my disciplined.”
With great teammates, coaches, talent and work ethic to be inspired by, look for Flo Damptey and the Westminster Warriors to be taking over the UK’s basketball first division very soon.
