Some could say former Durham Lords’ point guard Lindsay Panchan’s basketball career is nothing but net after signing another professional contract – in Denmark.
This is the Ajax native’s second pro deal in her career. She is signed with Lemvig Basket in Lemvig, Denmark after a difficult rookie season in Germany.
“It’s not a secret and I am confident enough to say I didn’t have my best year last year, so pitching me to teams this year was more difficult,” she says, adding she didn’t perform to her normal standard a year ago.
Panchan was signed by the Lemvig Basket late in the pre-season. By the time she had her first practice with the team, they had already been playing for a month.
“I got into town at 6 p.m. and we had practice at 6:30 p.m. (on Wednesday, Oct 10.) and then we had a game on Saturday,” she says. “But this year I’m way more focused. I’m fit and ready to play like I know how.”
Panchan began playing basketball when she was 12 and stuck with it through high school when she attended Notre Dame Catholic Secondary School in Ajax. She says she was playing for a Grade 8 team when she was only in Grade 6.
“Basketball is like my second parent,” she says. “It taught me how to be on time, work in a team, be disciplined, learn how to multi-task and be confident.”
She came to Durham College’s sports management program in the fall of 2014 after attending Saint Mary’s University in Halifax for two years (2011-2013). After two years on the east coast, she says she just got “fed up” with basketball and school and made the decision to take a year off.
“We were thrilled when she signed this contract (in Denmark), she has been working very hard to improve her game and fitness level since she left Durham,” says Durham Lords coach Heather LaFontaine. “She understands the demands of playing at a very high level.”
Panchan finished her time at Durham as a two-time all-Canadian, the school’s athlete of the year in 2016-2017 and broke the Lords single-game scoring record with 41 points against the Algonquin Thunder on Nov. 20, 2015.
Currently, along with her basketball career, she is running a small graphic design business for sports teams. For the future, Panchan says she would “possibly like to have a small agency for female basketball players.”
