Off-contract Canberra Capitals star Keely Froling will have a chance to achieve her childhood dream of playing at the Olympic Games as she eyes a qualifying tournament.
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Froling is one of seven players in contention for the final five spots in the Australian squad that will head to Austria at the end of May to compete in the 20-team tournament.
Froling thought her chances of living out her Olympic dream were no more than a fantasy before the three-on-three variation was announced as a new addition to the Tokyo Games in 2021.
Growing up Froling had only played the traditional five-on-five game, but a call to head to the FIBA three-on-three Asia Cup two years ago now has her poised to achieve a lifelong dream.
"When I got the call to play in the three-on-three Asia Cup, I was kind of like 'oh great let's just see how this goes'," Froling said.
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"I hadn't even gone to any training camps, now to have the chance to go from that to the Olympic Games in two years is just wild.
"We've had two camps this year leading into the qualifying tournament and I've been really happy with how I went at both of those camps.
"I'm confident I made a really good statement for myself and put my hand up so now it's just up to the coaches to select me."
Twenty teams will compete for three remaining spots in the Olympic Games, with Australian placed in pool B with Iran, Japan, Thailand and Ukraine.
"You can't go into a tournament underestimating anyone, especially in three-on-three" Froling said.
"Everyone is a threat right now because we all want to go to the Olympics, there won't be a team that comes in and just gets walked over.
"We're probably yet to show our potential as a team, but now after a couple of years of playing and all the training we've done we're in with a really good shot to get to the Olympic Games.
"To be one of the first ones to do it in the three-on-three would be really incredible. We still have one step to go before we get there but it would be really amazing."