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[Lange], a former Lady Rebel star, recently began a nine-month season with a Division I-B team in Calais, France. Like the name implies, Division I-B is a step below Division I-A and it's not where Lange hopes to stay.
So far, Lange averages about 33 points and 16 rebounds a game for Calais, a team mostly comprised of casual local players. Lange, a Toronto native who averaged 10.2 points and 6.2 rebounds a game over four years at UNLV, is the only paid player on the team and its biggest star.
While waiting for the Atlanta Olympics, Lange hopes to move up as a pro. Eventually, Lange said she hopes to either move Calais to the Division I-A level, or get there herself. Another possibility is moving on to Italy or Spain.
Photo. MERLELYNN LANGE
Playing in France
The job and location might sound glamorous, but there's one thing about playing basketball professionally in France that Merlelynn Lange doesn't like:
It simply isn't challenging enough.
Lange, a former Lady Rebel star, recently began a nine-month season with a Division I-B team in Calais, France. Like the name implies, Division I-B is a step below Division I-A and it's not where Lange hopes to stay.
Her competition is not so much the other team as it is the other team's one permitted foreign player _ who, like Lange, is usually a center.
"It's good, but it isn't quite what I expected," Lange said during a recent telephone interview. "International and European basketball is very different than American. It's not quite as intense as it was in college, although it is when you're guarding the other American. But I'm enjoying it."
So far, Lange averages about 33 points and 16 rebounds a game for Calais, a team mostly comprised of casual local players. Lange, a Toronto native who averaged 10.2 points and 6.2 rebounds a game over four years at UNLV, is the only paid player on the team and its biggest star.
"My goal, no matter what, is to be the leading scorer and rebounder for every game," Lange said. "We have a great bunch of girls, but they're not all professional athletes. The natives are just playing for enjoyment, so they don't play the game as intensely as I might."
Her Calais teammates aren't the only frustration Lange has endured: She also suffered through Canada's surprising loss in Olympic qualifying play to Italy, a team the Canadians had beaten easily before.
"My goal is to play in one Olympic game, but if I don't make it in '96, I may have to stop," Lange said. "Everyone played poorly and they played incredibly well. We had a great training session and then didn't do well. We try to analyze why we lost. The only thing is we may have to simulate the atmosphere of the Olympics more in practice, so the players can get ready."
While waiting for the Atlanta Olympics, Lange hopes to move up as a pro. Eventually, Lange said she hopes to either move Calais to the Division I-A level, or get there herself. Another possibility is moving on to Italy or Spain.
In the meanwhile, Lange has plenty of time to work on her game and other interests in Calais, a small town in Northwest France, across the English Channel from Dover, England.
The Calais team practices once a day, then plays a game on Saturday and takes Sunday off. But while most Calais players also work full-time jobs, as a paid foreigner, Lange is not allowed to work.
Lange said she uses her free time to take French classes, since the required French she took as a Canadian high schooler never made her quite fluent. She also has time to run along the beach and, on Sundays after road games, has the option of sightseeing in whatever town Calais played in.
"It's very different," Lange said. "I'm used to having a hectic schedule _ going to classes and going to practice. Here, it's just go to practice and play the game."
(Copyright 1992)