Alumni Spotlight: Balancing Basketball, Business and the Court

From championship basketball courts to boardroom strategy meetings, Stan Leemans (Class of 2010) has built a life that balances athletic ambition with professional success. Now back in Switzerland after years abroad, he reflects on how ISZL’s supportive environment helped shape his path on and off the court.

After graduating from ISZL in 2010, Stan Leemans turned his passion for sports and economics into a career that’s taken him across Switzerland, Belgium, and back again. While earning his bachelor’s in Economics at the University of Fribourg, he began working part-time at PepsiCo and joined the prestigious Fribourg Olympic Basketball Club—Switzerland’s most decorated team—competing in the country’s top league while simultaneously pursuing his Master’s in Accounting and Finance.

By 2016, he had helped lead the team to a Swiss Championship and Cup victory. With a Belgian passport and a desire for more playing time and continued professional growth, Stan moved to Belgium in 2017 to join two competitive second-division teams. Over the next three and a half years, he won both the Cup of Flanders and a national championship while balancing semi-professional basketball with a full-time career in finance at PepsiCo Belgium.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought a turning point. Stan returned to Switzerland in early 2021, joining Mars in a Sales Finance role before being promoted to Key Account Manager, where he now manages relationships with one of the country’s largest retailers. He and his partner—who had maintained a long-distance relationship for years—settled in Luzern, and he continues to train and play basketball with his former youth team, now competing in Switzerland’s first division.

Stan credits ISZL for shaping the balance he’s found between athletics, academics, and career. “The ISZL curriculum gave me the freedom to pursue basketball seriously while still receiving a top-quality education,” he reflects.

That balance was crucial — especially when compared to the long school days in the Swiss Gymnasium system. I’m grateful my family made the choice to switch me to Riverside.

His memories of ISZL are filled with camaraderie, support, and a sense of belonging.

I often describe it like Hogwarts — a little castle by the lake, full of activity, energy, and meaningful life lessons that only became clearer with time. Many of my closest friends today are people I met during those years.

Whether on the court or in the office, Stan continues to approach life with the same drive and discipline that defined his time at ISZL. And through it all, he remains connected to the place that helped lay the foundation.