"The community at large in basketball in New Zealand has tried a few times to get something up and running."
The former Tall Fern, who made her debut for New Zealand in 2014 before claiming bronze at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, played in previous, "low key" national competitions back in high school.
"This is a whole new level, I'm so excited for the young girls who can come to games and see us on TV. I would have loved that growing up in New Zealand; to be able to see these awesome women ballin out," Trousdell said.
"The pay parity I think is huge, that's what's bringing in the imports and bringing Tall Ferns back to New Zealand."
After her high school years at Napier Girls', Trousdell spent four years playing basketball for Colgate University in New York, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Behavioral Neuroscience.
She returned home and had a stint working for the Ministry of Social Development before accepting an offer to play professionally in Melbourne for the Sunbury Jets in 2017.
Following three seasons there Trousdell was recruited by the Ringwood Hawks to play in NBL 1, the second tier of Australian professional basketball under the WNBL.
But the 2020 season was cancelled because of Covid-19, and Trousdell eventually left Australia for Wellington that November where she now works as a senior data analyst in the Ministry of Education national office.
She said playing in the first year of Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa comes with a lot of responsibility to show the elite level of basketball that Kiwi women can play.
"All our experience overseas and playing internationally, we can bring that back now, play on home soil," Trousdell said.
"It's really important for us to deliver a good product so that this competition continues in the same format in future years."
She hopes it can expand too – while proud to be flying the Hawke's Bay flag with the Queens, Trousdell hopes the region eventually has its own team to support.
"Being able to play in Hawke's Bay at Pettigrew, in front of Hawke's Bay fans one day would be awesome," she said, crediting the Hawke's Bay basketball community for all her progress in the sport.
"I wouldn't be here without my roots in Hawke's Bay and all the coaches and people that have supported me."
Mid-North Whai have another Hawke's Bay product in their squad in guard Rosalia Samia, a former New Zealand age-group international.
Tipoff between the Queens and Whai is at 3pm on Saturday, with every game being broadcast live on Sky Sport.
