Helvetic Guards
{{Short description|European American football team}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox American football team
| bgcolor = #E1011C
| fontcolor = #FFFFFF
| logo = Helvetic Guards Logo.png
| logosize = 180px
| founded = 2022
| folded = 2024
| coach = Norm Chow
| name = Helvetic Guards
| location = {{flagicon|Switzerland}} Switzerland
| stadium = Lidl Arena Wil
| manager = Toni Zöller
| league = European League of Football (ELF)
| website = {{url|https://helveticguards.ch/}}
| current= 2023 Helvetic Guards season
| uniform= Helvetic Guards Uniform (2023).svg
}}
The Helvetic Guards was an American football team based in Switzerland that played in the 2023 season of the European League of Football (ELF).{{Cite web |date=2022-05-13 |title=European League of Football - Neue ELF-Teams: Mailand, Zürich und Budapest steigen in European League of Football ein |url=https://www.ran.de/american-football/elf/elf-news/european-league-of-footaball-milano-seamen-hungarian-enthroners-helvetic-guards-patrick-esume-148981 |access-date=2022-05-13 |website=www.ran.de |language=de}}
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.{{Cite web |date=2022-05-13 |title=ELF adds Milano Seamen, Fehérvár Enthroners, and Zurich for 2023 |url=https://www.americanfootballinternational.com/elf-adds-milano-seamen-fehervar-enthroners-and-zurich-for-2023/ |access-date=2022-05-13 |website=American Football International |language=en-US}}{{cite news |author1=Marco Ackermann |title=Mit dem Geist der Schweizergarde – wie in Zürich ein Hotspot für American Football entstehen soll |url=https://www.nzz.ch/sport/american-football-ist-zuerich-bald-ein-hotspot-fuer-den-us-sport-ld.1690003 |newspaper=Neue Zürcher Zeitung |access-date=3 December 2022 |language=DE |date=23 June 2022}}
On 26 August 2022, the team announced Norm Chow as the head coach for the European League of Football 2023 season.{{cite web | url=https://europeanleague.football/elf-news/helvetic-guards-announce-changes-in-the-coaching-staff-with-super-bowl-champions | title=Helvetic Guards announce changes in the coaching staff with Super Bowl champions | European League of Football News }}
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.{{Cite web |url=https://helveticguards.ch/?p=803 |title=LIDL Arena Wil announced as Homefield |date=2022-10-30 |website=helveticguards.ch}}
On 2 December 2022, the team signed Collin Hill to be their starting quarterback.{{cite web | url=https://europeanleague.football/elf-news/helvetic-guards-sign-collin-hill-at-quarterback | title=Helvetic Guards sign Collin Hill at quarterback | European League of Football News }} They added fellow US-American running back and wide receiver Silas Nacita on 17 December 2022.{{cite web | url=https://europeanleague.football/elf-news/helvetic-guards-sign-running-back-silas-nacita | title=Helvetic Guards sign running back Silas Nacita | European League of Football News }}
On 4 April 2024, the team announced the end of operations, to be replaced by another Swiss ELF entry.{{cite web | url=https://endzone.ch/die-helvetic-guards-stellen-den-betrieb-ein-ersatzteam-steht-in-den-startloechern/ | title=Die Helvetic Guards stellen den Betrieb ein - Ersatzteam steht in den Startlöchern | date=4 April 2024 }} On 11 April 2024, the new team name, the Helvetic Mercenaries, and the logo was announced.{{cite web | url=https://www.nau.ch/sport/andere/schweizer-footballteam-heisst-neu-helvetic-mercenaries-66743720 | title=Schweizer Footballteam heisst neu Helvetic Mercenaries |lang=de-CH |date=2024-04-12}}
Roster
{{#section-h:2023 Helvetic Guards season|Roster}}
Staff
{{#section-h:2023 Helvetic Guards season|Staff}}
References
External links
- [https://helveticguards.ch/ Official website]
{{Helvetic Guards}}
{{European League of Football}}
Category:European League of Football teams
Category:American football teams in Switzerland
Category:2022 establishments in Switzerland
Category:American football teams established in 2022