So, on Friday morning the boss (wife) and I get up early and return to Lucerne from Bern. After getting to Lucerne I would take a train to Willesau to get to the training camp for the Senior, Junior and Flag football teams of Switzerland.
The boss (wife) was to stay in Lucerne while I attended the weekend camp to establish the National Teams for Switzerland. (I took all of her credit cards and left her with 20 Swiss francs – well, maybe I left her with 50 francs)
The Direrctor of the National Team – Andy Keller retrieved me at the train station (SBB was on time as usual!) and we drove the few minutes to the sports center.
Willesau has an amazing facility. From what I understand there are several national training centers across Switzerland. Willesau is certainly one of them.
***I was at Zuchwil with the Junior National Team two summers ago – I think it is another of the elite camps that Switzerland has established for their athletes. We also had our Sound Mind Sound Body Europe Camp at Tenero – which in another amazing facility built for the top athletes in the country!***
Willisau Athletic Complex
To say the facility is all encompassing – well it is! We
have all of the essentials. Rooms for all the players and coaches…dining hall….meeting rooms….lockers… and several football fields! You would be hard pressed to 
find anything like this in the States.
If we stayed longer we could have training rooms, weight lifting areas, running tracks etc. (By the way the training complexes at Zuchwil and Tenero are built
with these amenities as well.). You have to give the sports administrators in Switzerland credit. They have done great job of providing training sites for athletes in all sports.
The SAFV (Schweizerische American Football Verband or Swiss American Football Federation) did an outstanding job of setting up the whole operation.
Like any organization there are a lot of political issues. But after spending a lot of time with the National Teams Director Andreas Keller and his chief assistant Anna Zinsli the group is trying to work through many issues to make the National teams stronger than they have ever been.
I really found it very informative and interesting spending as much time as I did with Andy and Anna. Both, obviously smart and aware of the landscape of the SAFV they patiently worked me through issues that are presented throughout the league and non particular the National Teams.
I really respect what Andy and Anna were able to accomplish. I am sure it was a stressful time making sure that everything was operating on schedule and within the budget. They did a great job and the SAFV should be thankful to have them in their positions.
Later I was able to spend time with Glenn Chase the president of the SAFV. Over the past two years we have had several conversations by email. But, he and I sat and talked for several hours. Exchanging ideas on how to keep improving the National Teams. (There is no doubt that he is fighting against some bad odds since the individual clubs are all operated in different ways.)
I really believe that everyone has their heart in the right place and it is imperative that we need to keep expanding the breadth of the SAFV and the education of administrators, coaches and players.
Being the optimist that I am – I really believe that we will see some firm progress as we continue on with this plan. I think as we can keep things going in the right direction we will see a vast improvement in our competition with other European teams.
I was privileged to be invited by Andy and Glenn to watch the entire operation at the Swiss National camp. It was truly an honor to be included in this group of coaches and administrators.
These are top flight young people who have the best interests of the players in Switzerland in mind. I saw some pretty good coaching and teaching going on at all three levels. The Seniors (20+), Juniors (U 19) and Flag teams.
After being associated with the Junior National team a few years ago I was acquainted with all of the coaches for
that squad. I did miss my good friend Giorgio Volpi who is really involved with a lot of things right now and could not be part of our camp.
But, upon his recommendation the defense was coordinated by Walti Tgetgel who is a fantastic coach. The Junior HC remains Michel Spitznaegel who
continues to be a good friend.
I am not sure what the SAFV has in mind for me – but whatever role it is should be another awesome experience. Another adventure is on the horizon I am sure.
I really didn’t know any of the Senior coaches – but they certainly were welcoming and also great to be around for the three day session.
They were well prepared and did a good job of drilling the team and preparing them for future efforts. I enjoyed being able to
watch each coach work with his group of
players.
We had some interesting conversations and I went away after the camp wishing that I had more time to visit with all of the coaches. They are all knowledgeable and interested in the game of football. I learned a great deal about how the game is played overseas and Switzerland in particular.
After working with the Junior National team in the European
championships two years ago I was able
to reunite with several of the players who were at the camp. I have to say we had a tight knit group who were a lot of fun to be around.
They represented their country well when we played in the Netherlands against Germany and the Dutch Lions. All of them are Seniors now and it was fun reminiscing with them.
I was impressed with the level of talent that was assembled for the camp. Obviously the coaches did a very good job of selecting the players who will represent their country.
Watching the flag football team practice was very interesting as I have not really been involved with flag football before. (I watched my sons play for several years when they were both young – but never really watched a practice.)
I was very impressed with the athleticism of the flag football players. I hope I will get to watch them play at some point.
There has been some talk of having football in the Olympic Games at some point. No one has addressed what the game will look like – flag, arena like, seven man or eleven man.
Right now it seems like the best bet might be utilizing flag football. With the pressure due to injuries and the concussion issue it might make more sense pursuing the flag football platform.
Following the three day sessions it was time for me to get back on the road to Lucerne and then head to the airport in Milan, Italy.
