Former CIS (now U SPORTS) basketball star Pam Danis, who led the University of Winnipeg to three CIS championships during her playing days and spent 12 years as head coach at the University of Manitoba, was named fulltime assistant coach with the SFU women’s basketball program in July 2021.
As point guard and captain, Danis led Winnipeg to three Canadian championships and was inducted into the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame in the team category. She was also the women’s basketball coach at Manitoba from 2000 to 2012. Simon Fraser competed against Danis-led teams when it competed in CIS.
Pam was head coach at the University of Manitoba for 12 years, where she was also a faculty member in the Faculty of Kinesiology. For three of those years, Danis was the President of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. Danis is also the founder of Big Country Basketball Academy in Ontario.
While coaching at Manitoba, Danis created a “Running with the Bison” outreach program for indigenous youth at the Skownan First Nation, and she was awarded the University of Manitoba’s community service award in 2008. Danis’ leadership was recognized again in 2017 with a ‘Leading Women, Building Communities’ award by the Ontario provincial government.
Danis completed her Bachelor of Education and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Winnipeg and she has taught in both the public and independent school systems.
As an educator and mother, Danis is passionate advocate for women in sport. She continually embraces opportunities to grow, develop, and engage not only herself, but those around her, which led her to joining the SFU program.
