Ásta Júlía Grímsdóttir (born 22 February 2001) is an Icelandic

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for Valur of the Úrvalsdeild kvenna. She won the Icelandic championship in 2019, 2021 and 2023 and the Icelandic Cup in 2019 as a member of Valur.

Playing career

KR

Ásta came up through the junior programs of KR and played two season for the club in the second-tier 1. deild kvenna. In 2017 she was named the 1. deild kvenna Young Player of the Year after averaging 9.9 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game.

Valur

After the 2016–2017 season, Ásta signed with Valur of the top-tier Úrvalsdeild kvenna. She helped the team to the Úrvalsdeild finals in 2018 where it lost to

Haukar Knattspyrnufélagið Haukar (, ) is an Icelandic multi-sport club from Hafnarfjörður with divisions in Association football, Football, Haukar Handball, Handball, Basketball, Haukar RC, Rugby union, Karate, Skiing & Chess. Club history The clu ...

, 3–2. She had a breakout season in 2018–2019, averaging 8.8 points and 7.3 rebounds, and helping Valur to the best record in the league. On 16 February 2019, she won the Icelandic Cup after Valur defeated

Stjarnan Ungmennafélagið Stjarnan (, ), commonly known as Stjarnan (), is an Icelandic multi-sports club specialising in handball, football, basketball, volleyball and gymnastics located in Garðabær. Basketball Men's basketball As of the 2017–2 ...

in the Cup finals, 74–90. On 27 April, Ásta helped Valur win the

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

for the first time in the team's history.

Houston Baptist Huskies

In March 2019, Ásta agreed to join the Houston Baptist Huskies women's basketball team.

Return to Iceland

On 23 September 2020, Ásta signed a 2-year contract with Valur. On 2 June 2021, she won the national championship after Valur beat Haukar 3–0 in the Úrvalsdeild finals. On 28 April 2023, she won her third Icelandic championship after Valur defeated top-seeded

Keflavík Keflavík (pronounced , meaning ''Driftwood Bay'') is a town in the Reykjanes region in southwest Iceland. It is included in the municipality of Reykjanesbær whose population as of 2016 is 15,129. In 1995, Keflavík merged with nearby Njar ...

in the Úrvalsdeild finals, 3–1.

National team career

Ásta played 17 games for the Icelandic national U-16 team from 2016 to 2017. In June 2016, she was named to the All-First team during the Nordic Championships. In 2017, she averaged 11.3 points and 14.6 rebounds for Iceland during the U16 Women's European Championship Division B. In 2018, she appeared in 13 games for the Icelandic national U-18 team.

Personal life

Ásta is the daughter of

Icelandic parliament The (; ), anglicised as Althingi or Althing, is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is the oldest surviving parliament in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at (' thing fields' or 'assembly fields'), about east of what lat ...

member

Helga Vala Helgadóttir Helga Vala Helgadóttir (born 14 March 1972) is an Icelandic lawyer, former member of the Althing, and an actress. She was a member of the Althing, elected in the 2017 Icelandic parliamentary election for the Reykjavík North constituency, but r ...

and Grímur Atlason, a politician and former manager of the

Iceland Airwaves Iceland Airwaves is a music festival held annually in November in Reykjavík, Iceland, since 1999. Its main focus is showcasing new music, both Icelandic and international. Background The event is promoted and produced by Iceland Music Export ...

music festival.

References

External links

Icelandic statistics
at

Icelandic Basketball Association The Icelandic Basketball Association (''Icelandic:Körfuknattleikssamband Íslands - KKÍ'') is the national governing body of basketball in Iceland and is a member of the continental association FIBA Europe and the global International Basketbal ...

Houston Baptist profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grimsdottir, Asta Julia 2001 births Living people Houston Christian Huskies women's basketball players Asta Julia Grimsdottir Asta Julia Grimsdottir Asta Julia Grimsdottir Asta Julia Grimsdottir Asta Julia Grimsdottir Asta Julia Grimsdottir Forwards (basketball)