NBS Nelson Giants skipper Sam Dempster didn’t want his career to finish injured on the sidelines.
After featuring in the side’s revival after a disastrous 0-8 start to last year’s season, it was a distressing sight for fans to see Sam cut down on the brink of making the play-offs.
He had to be carried from the Trafalgar Centre court after suffering a serious ankle injury in the Giants’ final regular season match.
It proved a double whammy as his team went down 91-87 to the Southland Sharks and just missed qualifying for the post-season.
Sam confirms it took 20 weeks to recover from the ankle problem.
“I try to retire every year, but my wife Auburn said you can’t go out that way,” says the 1.98m power forward.
So, the 35-year-old has been back training on the Nelson College court where he guides the NC top side and is also kept busy running coaching clinics.
And you might have seen him slogging it out on the pre-season runs up the hill to the Coastal View Lifestyle Village in Bishopdale.
With the ever-changing player rosters, Sam has been a constant since debuting 18 seasons ago and first captaining the side 10 years ago.
