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Helvetic Guards

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Helvetic Guards
Team logo
Founded2022
Based inSwitzerland Switzerland
Home stadiumLidl Arena Wil
Head coachNorm Chow
General managerToni Zöller
LeagueEuropean League of Football (ELF)
Websitehelveticguards.ch
Current uniform
Current sports event 2023 Helvetic Guards season

The Helvetic Guards is 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 
United States
  •   Richard Wartmann
Switzerland

Running backs

  •   Kevin Audétat
Switzerland
  •   Dmitri Gfeller
Switzerland
  •   Ibony Mbungu
Switzerland

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

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.
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