Christiane Fischer has come a long way over the past five years. Hailing from Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany, the 5’6’’ point guard has found success everywhere she’s travelled.
Fischer’s North American journey began in the 2009-10 season at Northeast Community College in Norfolk, Nebraska. The Northeast Hawks compete in the Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference (NCCAC).
“When I first came over to North America I thought I wanted to play Division I NCAA [basketball],” said Fischer. “It didn’t work out at first so I thought I would go to Nebraska, play junior college, and then go on.”
She found immediate success in Nebraska: Fischer was named to the 2009-10 NCCAC women’s all-conference team, helping to lead the team to a conference championship. She was named team captain and averaged 6.5 points per game the following season. Fischer was also Academic All-Region in 2010 and Academic All-American in 2011.
Despite her triumphs away from home, Fischer wasn’t completely happy with how things were going in Nebraska.
“It was a different culture; it was rural Nebraska so it was very different from German, urban life. The team was fun, but the people around were not so much in accordance to my lifestyle.”
That’s when Manitoba came knocking. Women’s basketball head coach Pam Danis recruited Fischer for the 2011-12 season.
“A great opportunity came up and I got the chance to come up here and play basketball, so I took it – and from then on, I’ve been a Bison,” Fischer told the Manitoban.
Since arriving in Manitoba, Fischer has been a leader on and off the court. She has been a team captain for the last two seasons, and led the team in assists this past season with 53.
Canada has been a perfect fit for the point guard, who has found the style of play suits her.
“Canada’s kind of a hybrid between German basketball and culture and the U.S. basketball and culture. U.S. basketball is very individually based and very scoring based [ . . . ] Germany is very structured. You don’t have a lot of freedom to roam around, and I don’t really like that much either.”
“Canada’s kind of a mix,” remarked Fischer. “For me that was kind of my perfect fit.”
While Fischer has continued to excel on the court, she has also been very productive in the classroom. In April 2013, she joined four other students and five University of Manitoba faculty members in attending the G20 Youth Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia. This past season was Fischer’s final year of CIS eligibility, so while her time on the court in a Bison uniform may be over, she is planning to continue to challenge herself, both academically and athletically.
“This year I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about indigenous issues in Canada, and indigenous politics,” said Fischer.
“I would like to pursue that. So I’m going to take a year off, probably go back to Europe and play some basketball, just because I’m not ready to give it up yet, and it’s too much fun.”
No matter what Fischer decides to do next, she will fondly look back on her experiences in Winnipeg.
“[They are] amazing people. I love Winnipeg, I love the people here. I love how international it’s becoming more and more. I think the warmth of the people here is totally making up for the cold we get.”
