Ex-Windsor Locks Star Bringing Exciting Basketball To The Area

WINDSOR LOCKS, CT — Donovin Ford-Hayes, a standout player on some excellent Windsor Locks High School basketball teams of the early 2010s, wears many hats these days as owner, general manager and coach of a minor league franchise in Plaistow, New Hampshire. However, soon he will be able to hang those hats much closer to the town in which he experienced tremendous success in his teenage years.

The Plaistow Shockers, founded by Ford-Hayes in 2019 in the American Basketball Association (ABA), jumped with six other clubs to the East Coast Basketball League (ECBL) a year later, forming the Mid-Atlantic Conference. Now, its 27-year-old leader is moving the team more than 125 miles south, re-branding itself as the Hartford Shockers.

In an interview with Patch Wednesday, Ford-Hayes said he has not finalized a playing location as yet, but it will definitely be in Hartford County.

"Moving back to Connecticut will be great," he said. "My whole family and support system is there. It makes more sense to me."

He will be returning to the region where he grew up and began developing his skills in a youth basketball league at age 4. In high school, he was an integral part of a Raider program which compiled a 50-18 record in his final three seasons, including a trip to the Class S semifinals in 2010.

After graduating in 2011, the 6-foot-2 Ford-Hayes took his talent to Becker College in Worcester, Mass., where he played four years, including three as a starter. He averaged 10.1 points per game in his college career, and began looking for ways to continue playing after earning his degree in sports management in 2015.

"I played with a bunch of teams, including the Providence Sky Chiefs in the Premier Basketball League and the Worcester 78s in the ABA," he said.

He eventually took a full-time job as sports director of the YMCA in Plaistow, a small town of just under 8,000 residents in southern New Hampshire, bordering Haverhill, Mass. He formed the Shockers in the summer of 2019, with home games played in the YMCA gymnasium.

"I wanted to form it into my own business, and starting a team there was pretty easy," he said.

He is currently assistant director of athletic operations at Becker; however, in March, trustees announced the college would close at the end of the 2020–21 academic year.

In moving back to his home state, Ford-Hayes will have his team in close proximity to another club in the ECBL, the Western Mass Zombies, who play in Springfield. He said he foresees no problem with the arrangement, and anticipates development of a natural geographic rivalry between the two franchises.

"[Zombies owner] Bill Bullock said he was okay with it, as long as I don't approach any of his players," Ford-Hayes said. "It's a win-win for both of us."

He said he expects to have player tryouts in July, while he continues to finalize a home venue. Meanwhile, he said he plans to ditch the yellow uniforms worn by the Shockers, opting for "a teal or mint green, with black."

More information about the Shockers may be found here.

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