A different Swiss national football team

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‘I will try to win, but if I can’t, I will be courageous in my efforts’. That is the pledge at the Special Olympics, where the Swiss women’s team (surrounded here by its two coaches) will defend national colours. stephanie borcard & nicolas metraux / BM-photo

Susana, one of the team’s goalkeepers. In her hair, she has two numbers that are meaningful to her: 2, the year she was adopted, and 5 the number of people closest to her heart. stephanie borcard & nicolas metraux / BM-photo

The football players are the only team among 70 athletes who represent Switzerland. stephanie borcard & nicolas metraux / BM-photo

Running onto the pitch at Fislisbach. Here, as in the Games, the matches involve two teams of five players. stephanie borcard & nicolas metraux / BM-photo

Gisela and Damian, the delegation’s two coaches, give their last tips before the match. stephanie borcard & nicolas metraux / BM-photo

Jennifer in full action on the pitch, during a match against the local team. stephanie borcard & nicolas metraux / BM-photo

Gisela, 47, has been a volunteer coach since 2010. stephanie borcard & nicolas metraux / BM-photo

Carmela, 30, lives in canton St Gallen. In addition to football, she enjoys tennis and singing. She joined the team in 2010. stephanie borcard & nicolas metraux / BM-photo

At the end of the day in the changing room. Susi (in the mirror), Anja and Andrea change from studded boots and football jerseys into more casual clothes. stephanie borcard & nicolas metraux / BM-photo

Damian, 20, has been a volunteer coach for the past two years. He likes to emphasise that “what’s important is not to be the best, but to do things together”. stephanie borcard & nicolas metraux / BM-photo

The players listen carefully to the coaches’ explanations and advice. The following day, a full day of training is expected, before the Los Angeles Games. stephanie borcard & nicolas metraux / BM-photo

Fislisbach welcomed the team during its first sports day, entitled “Fislisbach is FIT”. stephanie borcard & nicolas metraux / BM-photo

Fabienne, 28, took part in the Special Olympics in 2011, held in Athens, where the Swiss women’s team won the bronze medal. stephanie borcard & nicolas metraux / BM-photo

Relaxing at the youth hostel in Baden. And football is still being played… stephanie borcard & nicolas metraux / BM-photo

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These are not the Paralympics, they are the other Olympic Games for athletes who are different. From July 24 to August 2, Los Angeles will host the Special Olympics, in which more than 7,000 mentally handicapped athletes from 177 countries will participate, including the Swiss women’s football team.

The movement began in the United States in the 1960s. Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the sister of John and Robert Kennedy, founded the organisation after being touched by the tragic fate of their sister, Rosemary, who had become mentally handicapped following a lobotomy. She began by organising sports camps for the handicapped and in 1968 convened the first Special Olympics in Chicago. More than 1,000 US and Canadian athletes competed in swimming, track and field and floor hockey.

The movement came to Switzerland 20 years later, with the first national delegation participating in the Minneapolis Games in 1991. This year, in Los Angeles, at least 70 Swiss athletes will participate in 12 sports, including track and field, cycling, swimming and football.

Ten women, aged 24-38, make up the Swiss football team. But before hitting the pitch in the US, the team met in the small village of Fislisbach, canton Aargau, for a sports weekend.

(Photos and text: Stephanie Borcard, Nicolas Metraux)