Helvetic Guards

Helvetic Guards
Founded	2022
Based in	Switzerland
Home stadium	Lidl Arena Wil
Head coach	Norm Chow
General manager	Toni Zöller
League	European League of Football (ELF)
Website	helveticguards.ch
Current uniform
	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]

History edit

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 edit

Reference^[10]

**Helvetic Guards roster**

	Quarterbacks Collin Hill Richard Wartmann Running backs Kevin Audétat Dmitri Gfeller Ibony Mbungu Silas Nacita Moritz Stein Wide receivers Cayman Bailey Jr. Xavier Baudraz Gregorio Calonego Timo Hager Anton Jallai David Marty Pascal Rüegg Tight ends Igor Mašlanka Theo Stirnimann		Offensive linemen Federico Ferretti Wilson Ferretti Pascal Hollenstein Filip Kovljenic Amos Laoye Niels Meier Matthias Münger Gabriel Rodriguez Timothy Schmid Jürg Stalder Raffael Wachter Defensive linemen Abdur-Rahman Elabed Yannick Friedberg Tim Hänni Philipp Leimgruber Dominik Liechti Emmanuel Kabengele Michael Kimpiabi Milos Panic Michel Sousa Luca Steiner Dalibor Vuckovic		Linebackers Andreas Buri Julien Conus Jonathan Falk Adrian Fiedler Fabio Rothmund Timothy Schürmann Fabian Strahm J. R. Tavai Ludovic Vincent Defensive backs Labinot Arapi Macéo Beard Fabian Bruhin Ken Hike Olivier Marty Dominic Mischler Chaska Rémy Perron Hendrik Rutishauser Florian Ziegler Special teams Nils Jonkmans				Rookies in italics Roster updated 14 February 2023 4 A-import, 6 E-import, 47 homegrown 57 active

Staff edit

**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 Head coach – Norm Chow Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – n/a Quarterbacks – n/a Running backs – Darius Willis Wide receivers – Mike Wilson Tight ends – Pete Metzelaars Offensive line – Bob Palcic Offensive assistant – Rudy Fonkoue, Christian Warzecha			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 edit

^ "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.
^ "ELF adds Milano Seamen, Fehérvár Enthroners, and Zurich for 2023". American Football International. 13 May 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
^ 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.
^ "Helvetic Guards announce changes in the coaching staff with Super Bowl champions | European League of Football News".
^ "LIDL Arena Wil announced as Homefield". helveticguards.ch. 30 October 2022.
^ "Helvetic Guards sign Collin Hill at quarterback | European League of Football News".
^ "Helvetic Guards sign running back Silas Nacita | European League of Football News".
^ https://endzone.ch/die-helvetic-guards-stellen-den-betrieb-ein-ersatzteam-steht-in-den-startloechern/
^ "Schweizer Footballteam heisst neu Helvetic Mercenaries" (in Swiss High German). 12 April 2024.
^ "ELF: 2023 Helvetic Guards – A Complete Roster Breakdown". American Football International.

External links edit

Official website

[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] ttps://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.

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