Tara Murray
New Craigieburn Eagle Courtney Strait had always wanted to play basketball in Australia.
But with the COVID-19 pandemic she feared that dream may never come true. But the timing ended up being right for her and the Eagles for this year’s Big V season.
It could have quite easily not happened with Strait considering retirement before deciding to join the Eagles.
“I came to Craigieburn through a bit of effort and a bit of luck,” she said,
“Before I had experience under my belt playing overseas, I emailed a number of teams in Australia just to get my name out there and hopefully create some contacts for the future.
“Coach Andrew Seidel, who was working with a different team at the time, responded in the hopes that I could join his team back in 2020.
“With COVID restrictions and clubs struggling with funding during the pandemic, unfortunately the opportunity fell through.
“Fast forward to 2022, when I signed a contract to play with a team in Spain for the 2022-23 season.
“My documentation to obtain a Spanish visa took months when I thought it was going to take weeks – which ended up being too long to join the team.
“Following this upsetting news I was deciding whether it was time to hang up my shoes and retire from basketball.
“Then out of the blue, I received an email from Coach Seids – he remembered our email correspondence from years ago and asked if I was interested in coming to play at Craigieburn.”
Strait admits to crying happy tears when she officially signed.
Strait has played basketball since she was about six-years-old with her Aunt Rendall and her mum some of her biggest influences.
After a successful high school career which included Mississippi Valley Conference Player of the Year, Cedar Rapids Metro Player of the Year, First-Team All-State, she was offered a scholarship to play basketball at Truman State University – a Division 2 school in Missouri.
She played there for four years and was an all-conference honouree, a 1000-point scorer, and a Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament champion.
Strait then travelled and played basketball in England, Croatia, Turkey, Ireland, Germany before landing in Australia.
Strait is the first Craigieburn women’s import in a number of years.
“I know taking on an import is a big decision – there is so much work done behind the scenes to make it happen,” she said.
“Seeing the effort the club has put forth to provide this opportunity for me, in addition to seeing what a supportive, family-type atmosphere they have here, made it an easy decision to sign on the dotted line.
“The club has big goals and I am really looking forward to working with my teammates to achieve those goals. I’m also eager to help with youth camps, meet fans and young players within the club, and make a positive impact overall within the club.”
Strait sees herself as a dynamic player who can fill a number of roles, including being a level headed leader.
“Being a taller guard, I like to read defences, post up smaller guards, and drive past bigger defenders.”
Strait said she was keen to make a positive mark on the Eagles and wants to be seen as more than a basketball players.
“I want to help young players in the club improve, be there for my teammates on and off the court, and help the Eagles grow as a club overall.
“On the court as an import player, I am always trying to boost my resume and maintain solid stats in the hopes of receiving an offer to play the following season.
“But numbers aside it’s more important to me to be reliable and consistent for my teammates and coaches. As a team we have the collective goal to win a championship this season in division 1. We have been a bit overlooked so far so I am excited to turn some heads and make a statement in the Big V.”
