The Helvetic Guards was an American football team based in Switzerland that played in the 2023 season of the European League of Football (ELF).[1]

History

The entry of the newly founded franchise into the professional league was announced on 13 May 2022, during a press conference to open the 2022 ELF season by the team's general manager Toni Zöller. Together with co-owner Mukadder Erdönmez and others they established the first ELF franchise in Switzerland.[2][3]

On 26 August 2022, the team announced Norm Chow as the head coach for the European League of Football 2023 season.[4]

On 30 October 2022 the front office announced that they will play their home games in the Lidl Arena in Wil, Switzerland, about 25 miles (40km) east of Zürich.[5]

On 2 December 2022, the team signed Collin Hill to be their starting quarterback.[6] They added fellow US-American running back and wide receiver Silas Nacita on 17 December 2022.[7]

On 4 April 2024, the team announced the end of operations, to be replaced by another Swiss ELF entry.[8] On 11 April 2024, the new team name, the Helvetic Mercenaries, and the logo was announced.[9]

Roster

Reference[10]

Helvetic Guards roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

  •   Kevin Audétat Switzerland
  •   Dmitri Gfeller Switzerland
  •   Ibony Mbungu Switzerland
  •   Silas Nacita United States
  •   Moritz Stein Switzerland

Wide receivers

  •   Cayman Bailey Jr. Switzerland
  •   Xavier Baudraz Switzerland
  •   Gregorio Calonego Italy
  •   Timo Hager Switzerland
  •   Anton Jallai Sweden
  •   David Marty Germany
  •   Pascal Rüegg Switzerland

Tight ends

  •   Igor Mašlanka Slovakia
  •   Theo Stirnimann Switzerland
 Offensive linemen
  •   Federico Ferretti Switzerland
  •   Wilson Ferretti Switzerland
  •   Pascal Hollenstein Switzerland
  •   Filip Kovljenic Switzerland
  •   Amos Laoye Belgium
  •   Niels Meier Switzerland
  •   Matthias Münger Switzerland
  •   Gabriel Rodriguez Spain
  •   Timothy Schmid Switzerland
  •   Jürg Stalder Switzerland
  •   Raffael Wachter Switzerland

Defensive linemen

  •   Abdur-Rahman Elabed Switzerland
  •   Yannick Friedberg Switzerland
  •   Tim Hänni Switzerland
  •   Philipp Leimgruber Switzerland
  •   Dominik Liechti Switzerland
  •   Emmanuel Kabengele Democratic Republic of the Congo
  •   Michael Kimpiabi Switzerland
  •   Milos Panic Switzerland
  •   Michel Sousa Switzerland
  •   Luca Steiner Switzerland
  •   Dalibor Vuckovic Switzerland
 Linebackers
  •   Andreas Buri Switzerland
  •   Julien Conus Switzerland
  •   Jonathan Falk Switzerland
  •   Adrian Fiedler Germany
  •   Fabio Rothmund Switzerland
  •   Timothy Schürmann Switzerland
  •   Fabian Strahm Switzerland
  •   J. R. Tavai United States
  •   Ludovic Vincent Switzerland

Defensive backs

  •   Labinot Arapi Switzerland
  •   Macéo Beard France
  •   Fabian Bruhin Switzerland
  •   Ken Hike United States
  •   Olivier Marty Germany
  •   Dominic Mischler Switzerland
  •   Chaska Rémy Perron France
  •   Hendrik Rutishauser Switzerland
  •   Florian Ziegler Switzerland

Special teams

  •   Nils Jonkmans Switzerland


Rookies in italics
 Roster updated 14 February 2023
4 A-import, 6 E-import, 47 homegrown
57 active

Staff

Helvetic Guards staff

Front office

  • Owner – Mukadder Erdönmez
  • General Manager – Toni Zöller
  • Head of football operations – Zeki Öztürk
  • Head of administration – Ferhat Kahraman

Head coach

Offensive coaches

  

Defensive coaches

  • Defensive coordinator – Jim Ward
  • Defensive line – n/a
  • Linebackers – Don Clemons
  • Defensive backs – n/a
  • Defensive assistant – Khaled Bassyouny, Armin Waldherr, Chris Krattiger

Special teams coaches

  • Special teams coordinator – Pete Metzelaars
  • Special teams coach – Glenn Chase


Strength and conditioning

  • Athletic Director – Matt Hammer, J.C. Williams


Staff updated 14 February 2023

References

  1. ^ "European League of Football - Neue ELF-Teams: Mailand, Zürich und Budapest steigen in European League of Football ein". www.ran.de (in German). 13 May 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  2. ^ "ELF adds Milano Seamen, Fehérvár Enthroners, and Zurich for 2023". American Football International. 13 May 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  3. ^ Marco Ackermann (23 June 2022). "Mit dem Geist der Schweizergarde – wie in Zürich ein Hotspot für American Football entstehen soll". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  4. ^ "Helvetic Guards announce changes in the coaching staff with Super Bowl champions | European League of Football News".
  5. ^ "LIDL Arena Wil announced as Homefield". helveticguards.ch. 30 October 2022.
  6. ^ "Helvetic Guards sign Collin Hill at quarterback | European League of Football News".
  7. ^ "Helvetic Guards sign running back Silas Nacita | European League of Football News".
  8. ^ "Die Helvetic Guards stellen den Betrieb ein - Ersatzteam steht in den Startlöchern". 4 April 2024.
  9. ^ "Schweizer Footballteam heisst neu Helvetic Mercenaries" (in Swiss High German). 12 April 2024.
  10. ^ "ELF: 2023 Helvetic Guards – A Complete Roster Breakdown". American Football International.
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helvetic_Guards
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