LUCY KONADU

Nothing will deter Lucy from succeeding in basketball. After proving her skills on-court she managed to persuade London’s top all-male basketball team, East London Royals, to take her on.

Lucy comments, ‘when playing on the street there was a lot of sexist comments, lots of trash talk because I am a girl. You have to earn your respect and luckily I silenced them with my game.’

Also academically bright, Lucy studies Politics and Economics at Goldmiths University. Lucy understands the importance of education and how class divides have become increasingly blurred: ‘I have friends who have gone to Oxford, but I also have friends with serious drug problems and are either sitting around doing nothing or have two kids at the age of 20, and they come from the same area. I think the difference is in the individuals grounding and also family values – it is not about race or class anymore. I come from a very humble family in East London but then I sit next to Princess Beatrice at my university library. This is what Freestyle is about – the blending of class and race.’