Sask. basketball player heading to Olympics hopes to inspire daughter, young hoopers to chase dreams
CBC
Growing up in Humboldt, Sask., Paige Crozon had a big dream of competing in the Olympics.
That dream is coming true, as Crozon is heading to Paris this summer with Canada's 3x3 basketball team.
"I had dreams of going to the Olympics, but I didn't know in what sport," Crozon said. "Originally, I thought I wanted to be a hockey player, so I dreamed of playing on the Canadian national hockey team, but then life took me down a different path and I'm sure glad that it did."
The four-person squad made up of Crozon, Kacie Bosch and sisters Katherine and Michelle Plouffe is Canada's first-ever 3x3 team to qualify for the Olympics.
This variation of the sport sees two teams of three players play on one backboard in a half-court setup. The winner is the team with the highest score at the end of 10 minutes, or the first team to reach 21 points
The event was featured as an Olympic sport for the first time at the Tokyo games held in 2021.
Qualifying for the Olympics has been a goal five years in the making for Canada's 3x3 women's basketball team.
Crozon was there for the heartbreak in the leadup to the Tokyo Olympics, when a quirky rule prevented Canada's women's team from even attempting to qualify. The men's team instead received that opportunity but did not advance to Tokyo.
The Humboldt hooper is elated to be representing Canada on the sport's biggest stage after the disappointment of missing out on the last Olympics.
"We had put so much focus and pressure on accomplishing that goal, especially leading up into the Olympics this year," Crozon said. "
"Now that we're officially qualified, it doesn't feel real just yet."
The Olympic 3x3 event runs July 30 to Aug. 5.
Crozon said Team Canada's goal is to come home with a medal.
Getting buckets isn't Crozon's only job — she's also a single mom. Her five-year-old daughter Poppy has travelled the world with her mom as she helped Canada earn a spot in the Olympics.
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