Helvetic Guards

Last updated

Helvetic Guards
Helvetic Guards Logo.png
Founded2022
Based in Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Switzerland
Home stadium Lidl Arena Wil
Head coach Norm Chow
General managerToni Zöller
League European League of Football (ELF)
Website helveticguards.ch
Current uniform
Helvetic Guards Uniform (2023).svg
AmericanFootball current event.svg 2023 Helvetic Guards season

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

Contents

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) eastern 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 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg
  •   Dmitri Gfeller Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg
  •   Ibony Mbungu Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg
  •   Silas Nacita Flag of the United States.svg
  •   Moritz Stein Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg

Wide receivers

  •   Cayman Bailey Jr. Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg
  •   Xavier Baudraz Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg
  •   Gregorio Calonego Flag of Italy.svg
  •   Timo Hager Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg
  •   Anton Jallai Flag of Sweden.svg
  •   David Marty Flag of Germany.svg
  •   Pascal Rüegg Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg

Tight ends

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

Defensive linemen

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

Defensive backs

  •   Labinot Arapi Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg
  •   Macéo Beard Flag of France.svg
  •   Fabian Bruhin Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg
  •   Ken Hike Flag of the United States.svg
  •   Olivier Marty Flag of Germany.svg
  •   Dominic Mischler Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg
  •   Chaska Rémy Perron Flag of France.svg
  •   Hendrik Rutishauser Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg
  •   Florian Ziegler Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg

Special teams

  •   Nils Jonkmans Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg


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

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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". NZZ.ch (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. https://endzone.ch/die-helvetic-guards-stellen-den-betrieb-ein-ersatzteam-steht-in-den-startloechern/
  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.