Regina – a local basketball player who has her last dream on the hoop: the Olympics is her goal.
Queen Dornstauder, who has spent the past eight years playing Canadian basketball at various levels, is on the shortlist for Team Canada to compete in Tokyo 2020.
“I love him, I love him there.” “It’s a big part of my life and who I am now,” said Dornstauder, who first played for the Canada U-17 team.
Since graduating from Dr. Martin Lepoldus High School, the avant-garde has traveled the world with sports.
Dornstauder played NCAA Division I basketball at Arizona State University Sun Devils. It remains at number three on the ASU-all-time job list for the largest number of blocks in the school’s history with 138.
In the past four seasons, the 24-year-old has played in the Spanish Basketball First Division. Most recently, Dornstauder performed for AE Sedis Basquet in Catalonia.
Fortunately, COVID-19 did not cut short its professional season. However, he was missing an important constant in his life: Team Canada.
“We couldn’t meet them last summer, and it was the first time that I hadn’t been able to meet them since I was 16,” said Dornstauder.
Canadians are currently ranked fourth in the women’s basketball world rankings. The Canadian women’s first team will meet at a training camp in Edmonton next week. The roster consists of Canadian talent who, like Dornstauder, have played professionally abroad, but also in the WNBA and NCAA.
“During this process, they’ll do the evaluations and other things and pick the final list for the Olympics,” said Dornstauder.
With restrictions on training facilities in Saskatchewan, it has been difficult to find training opportunities for the Olympic Games, which begin on July 23.
“I’m here at level 10 training, and I’m training myself, lifting weights, and cardio, it’s a daily thing, it’s my job,” Dornstauder explained.
Previously, he helped Canada win a bronze medal at the Under-17 World Championships and later a silver medal at the FISU World University Games. Canada has already qualified for the Olympics, but has not announced its final list.
“Looking at the older players at the 2012 Olympics, I remember seeing them and imagining myself there someday,” said Dornstauder. “It’s definitely a process and it’s been hard work, but it has been my ultimate goal since I was 16.”
