The Braham girls basketball team will be saying goodbye to senior Kaitlyn Dordal as she prepares for graduation.
Dordal, however, will not be saying goodbye to basketball after she signed her letter of intent to play for Central Lakes College in Brainerd.
Dordal is a well-rounded athlete, trying her hand in track, cross-country, softball and basketball.
The senior shooting guard will be taking her talents to the junior college level for two seasons while she works on her degree in law enforcement and criminal justice.
It only took one meeting with people at Central Lakes to discover this is the place for her.
“It was really welcoming,” she added. “I met the coaches and teammates, and it just felt like being here, back home.”
Dordal will be joined by some Great River Conference rivals, and she said she knows some athletes from Aitkin who will become her new teammates.
Dordal is especially proud to have played for the Bombers, due to the positive atmosphere the town created.
“I want to thank the community for being supportive, and my teammates,” she said. “Also I would thank my parents for their support.”
Braham girls basketball coach Amber Hoffman is proud to see Dordal head to the next level and knows she will be a successful player.
“Kaitlyn was a captain for this year’s basketball season and gives 100 percent effort every single practice. She was a great leader during the season for the team and became much more vocal than I have ever seen. She wanted to do better, to win every game, to improve as a team,” Hoffman said.
“Kaitlyn cares a lot about basketball,” Hoffman continued. “She was in AAU for many years, and she has been a part of the varsity squad for many years as well. My favorite thing about Kait (as I call her) is her spitfire attitude on the court. She would sacrifice herself for the good of the team and you could find her on the ground many times during a game. We sometimes did not know if she was laughing or crying. Kait was not often the scoring leader, but many times a leader in steals or rebounds, the stats of a behind-the-scenes team member. She will be very successful in her future because of these traits she has.”
While Dordal is currently heading off to complete her two-year degree at Central Lakes, she knows this is not the end of the road for her academic career. She plans to attend a four-year university after graduation and continue her education with hopes of becoming a juvenile corrections officer or a parole officer.