Looking at October of 2022 … We Go Forward – and Slip As Well

I have to drop back here for a second in regards to the Helvetic Guards of the European League of Football.  We started off on this “facebookmentary” a few months ago.

Just a reminder … this is a look back at last year and our building of a football franchise in Switzerland.  For instance, a lot of this “chapter” is about October.  BUT, it is October of 2022 … not this current October.  (Think time machine backwards!)

Flashback to October of 2022:

Well, back here in the states Norm and I continue to work closely with our counterparts in Switzerland as we put our team together.  Ninety percent of this team building has to be done by looking at Hudl videos that are basically highlight films put together by the players and forwarded to us via email.

 

…..In case you didn’t know – Hudl is a relatively inexpensive system used by most high schools, small colleges and clubs worldwide.  The major colleges and pro leagues have a much more expansive (and expensive) video system…..

 Hudl is very user friendly and is really an excellent application for clubs that have small budgets….

 

Now, personally I hate highlight videos that are put together by individual players and coaches.  I’d much rather watch a game video that has every play for you to see.  Hell, if you don’t look good on a highlight film you put together well, come on!

Even I could make myself look good on a highlight film … hmmmm …well, maybe not!

It took a little while but we started to get it together as a functioning team model.  So, now that we kind of put together a system for evaluating players with a grading scale we could actually put together our roster.

Norm devised a system to put a “grade” on each player we viewed and we all stated using it.  Norm and I in the US.  Matt and Darius in Switzerland and we started getting help from Brian Bowles in Germany.

We started to build lists position by position … really concentrating on the Swiss players who would be the bulk of our team.  After we developed our offense and defense by category we would forward the names of top players we liked to Toni Zöeller (General Manager) and Mukka Erdönmez (financial guy).

They in turn would figure out how much to pay the guys and keep things straight with the ELF salary cap.  Let those guys figure that stuff out…it was hard enough finding quality players with these “Highlight” films.

We already had Dom Liechti, a very good defensive end from Bern signed up …he was working hard to help us get more players. Much of the early ground work could be attributed to Dominik’s efforts.

Coach Chow had a sold start with two A-Tag players.  He had lined up a very good quarterback in Collin Hill and a hard-working pass rush/linebacker from USC in JR Tavaii.  Great cornerstones to build on … we also had a line on a solid corner and a speedy wide receiver for our other two A-Tag  imports.

Norm was working hard to get Swiss QB Rici Wartmann from the Winterthur Warriors.  He was really interested but was battling a shoulder injury which would eventually cause him to leave the team before we started playing.

All European Defensive End – Tim Hänni was going to sign with us.  This was a very big splash since he had played two seasons in the ELF with the Hamburg Sea Devils (one of the stronger teams in the league).

Then John Falk a fantastic linebacker would “un”retire to play for his homeland.  John (Swiss citizen) had already won a German League championship and coached as a defensive coordinator.  He would join one of his former Bern teammates Andreas Buri to start to build the linebacker position.

Things were also looking good for another Bern Grizzly linebacker Faubian Strahm as well as the Marty brothers from Zurich.  Oli (CB) and David (WR) seemed to be eager to join the squad.  Should all be solid parts for our Swiss roster.

We had also zeroed in on three European (E-tag) players.  Versatile defensive backs Maceo Beard and Chaska Perron from France and Swedish receiver Anton Jallai all appeared ready to get on the Helvetic Guard train.

At the same time all of this going on … we started to see a few cracks.  Otis Smith (one Super Bowl) our defensive coordinator and wide receiver coach Mike Wilson (four time Super Bowl champ) were wavering in committing to coach the team.

Eventually, both would decide to quit and did not sign on to the coaching bench.

Meanwhile we still did not have a practice field, a stadium or equipment for out fledgling team.  It may seem like things that should be easy to secure – trust me that isn’t the case in Switzerland!

Another vital area that I was told “not to worry about” – we still hadn’t found a pathway to extended visas and a work permits for the American coaches and import players.  Oh yeah then there was the small problem of finding apartments in a small country with limited housing.  (“Don’t worry” was beginning to ring hollow.)

For you Mad Magazine fans … think Alfred E. Neuman… “What me Worry?”