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Athlete raising money for trip
Published April 15, 2006 ANGLETON - For the last two years, Dominique
Thomas has been honing her basketball skills at Houston
Baptist University.
Prior to that, she learned
her craft at Angleton High School as a member of a
Ladycat team that made the state semifinals three of her
four seasons and went to the state final in her senior
year.
Thomas now will put her skills to use in
an upcoming international competition. She has been
invited to play on the USA Athletes International
basketball squad that will play in the Europe Basketball
Series from June 6-14 in Barcelona, Spain.
USA
Athletes International is a non-profit organization
giving amateur athletes an opportunity to play in
international Olympic-style sporting events.
"The makeup of the team is all the way from
Division I to (National Association of Intercollegiate
Athletics) players," USA Athletes International
Executive Director William A. Edington said. "This
competition that we are sending the girls into is a
higher-level competition. They will be competing against
college-age and older players from other teams. Teams
from the past have done well for us, and we try to send
a team that will not beat everyone by 50 or get beat by
50."
USA Athletes International does not have
tryouts for its teams, instead extending invitations to
those it would like to have play.
NCAA rules
prohibit athletes from accepting paid trips, so athletes
such as Thomas must raise their own money to play.
So far, Thomas has raised $2,000 with
fund-raisers hosted by family members in the last couple
of months. The trip to get to Barcelona is $3,200, with
an additional trip slated from May 30 to June 5 that
begins in Spain and includes Argentina and Malaysia.
Thomas is trying to raise $5,500 to go on both
trips.
"We've sold raffle tickets for items, sold
dinners and gotten some donations along the way," Thomas
said. "One of the things I will see in this competition
is future WNBA prospects and many international players
with lots of experience. I just see it as experience and
something that will help us in the long run."
Ten
players will represent the United States on the team and
Dan Buzard, former Eastern New Mexico University head
coach, will lead the team.
The 5-foot-5 Thomas is
a bundle of energy when on the court, and her numbers
and accolades in the Red River Athletic Conference back
that claim.
Thomas was Red River Athletic
Conference player of the week three times this season
and was named the conference's defensive player of the
year at season's end for the second time.
She
garnered her final player of the week recognition after
averaging of 14 points, 10 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 6.5
steals in games against Wiley College and Texas Wesleyan
University.
In two seasons with Houston Baptist,
Thomas has surpassed the 300 assists mark. She broke the
school's single-game record against Texas College with
17 assists and is fifth on the school's all-time list.
Thomas also is fifth on the school's steals list after a
season in which she snagged 115 balls.
"She is
what I call my coach on the floor and the one player
that I give so much freedom," Houston Baptist coach Todd
Buchannon said. "Dominique is the epitome of a player
that works harder than any that I have coached. It is an
absolute blessing to coach a great kid, and one that has
her best basketball totally in front of her."
The
Lady Huskies finished the year 28-4 and at one point
were ranked No. 1 in the NAIA poll. In 32 games, Thomas
wrapped up her red-shirt sophomore season with averages
of 11.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 3.6 steals
per game.
"I became more of a scoring force this
year, whereas in my freshman season I didn't have to
score as much," Thomas said. "I posted up smaller guards
more this year and my jump shot came along. My
confidence grew on the court and if there was a
game-winning shot, I will take it."
Thomas was
NAIA All-America honorable mention as a red-shirt
freshman and earned a spot on the NAIA Tournament
All-Tournament team after the Lady Huskies made the
Final Four.
"On this trip I am hoping to get
stronger mentally, especially since it will be
international play," Thomas said. "I hope to add
something new to my game and gain some good camaraderie
along with friendships with my new teammates. I never
thought I'd make it out of Texas, so this is just a
great opportunity."
Buchannon
agrees.
"This is a great opportunity for her," he
said. "Not just the basketball experience that she will
get, but cultural-wise, which will be an absolute treat
for her."
Joel Luna is a sports writer for The
Facts. He can be reached at (979) 237-0161.
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