Chris Dorey began his athletic career at St. Lawrence College Kingston in 1979, competing as a three-sport athlete in badminton, tennis and touch football. During his time playing on the touch football team, Dorey's squad won the OCAA championships in 1979 and 1980.

Dorey is a two-time OCAA mixed doubles champion, earning one title with partner Margot Whittingham in 1980, and again with Louise Cole in 1982. He finished second in men's doubles at the 1981 OCAA championship with teammate Kevin Cheung.

After graduating from Mechanical Engineering – Machining (1983) and the Visual and Creative Arts (1984) programs, Dorey's badminton game took full flight from 2002-2010, where the former Viking earned 17 gold and four silver medals at the Ontario Badminton Associations Masters Championships, and 13 gold, five silver and one bronze medal at the Canadian Masters championships.