Hi, we have recently moved to Switzerland and are living in Hirzel (kind of halfway between Horgen and Baar/Zug. I am looking for a soccer/football team for my football mad nine year old. I don`t mind whether it is english speaking, german speaking or a mix. Any help would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks

http://fr.my-sci.com/FC_Seefeld_ZH

try them. They offer trainings for ages starting very young.

There must be a local football club (Fussball Club, FC) in Hirzel or nearby. Ask your neighbours or look in the phone book. No need to make your child go all the way to Zurich!

The links for the football clubs are to be found under Region Zürich (including Wädenswil, Horgen usw.)
Central Switzerland (including Zug and Baar) Innerschweiz
Personal recommendations are better of course, but at least from these pages you'll have an idea here how many clubs there are and can look at their details at leisure.
Hope you find what you are looking for.

Doesn't their school have one. I think that our daughter's school has one but I am not sure (she isn't interested so I haven't really checked it out). In a nutshell I haven't been very useful have I?

Hi Rachel,

I was in exactly the same position last year when we moved and was desperate for my son to find a club as he played regularly in England I didn't want him to miss out on developing his football skills. I just searched in the local 'Verein'/clubs list and e-mailed them directly. The first one responded - no space this year but the second one was positive.

I must say - as an aside that I asked for advice from the school administrator who suggested it might be better for him to wait until he has some basic German as he would fit in better. In the end he could only join a club a good six months after we moved here and his knowledge of Swiss German certainly helped him understand the coach and his teammates. Of course if you're lucky enough to find an English speaking club then this doesn't matter.

Good luck.

Lol - this is just the sort of thing that I write - before, usually, deleting it! Glad you left it in. Gave me a real giggle.

If they go to the local school then the other kids will point them in the right direction. Here in the French half of Suisse every town/village has a team. My children train twice a week and play on Saturdays, first game of the season starts this Sat.
They have to register with the Suisse Football Association (a formality) to get their "Passport" which enables them to play on a team.
I find that it is really well organised here, although my boys play in the local Fribourg league we go to some tiny villages in the middle of nowhere and lo and behold there is a proper football pitch with floodlights and changing rooms it really is very well run.
The young ones up to the age of 13yrs play on 3/4 size pitches with half size goals and 9 a side, then they progress up to full size pitches.
Get them involved it really is worth it although your Saturdays will be lost forever!
Nick

thanks for all the advice and tips it certainly gives me a lot to look into! School only started this week and I know that soccer wasn`t offered after school for his age group which prompted me to look elsewhere. The village we live in is really small and I haven`t found a football club here. Anyway I`m feeling more optomistic about finding something so thanks everyone!!

Hi All,

Apologies for my late response, Im just back from a holiday.

I have a company for coaching children called InterSoccer (www.intersoccer.ch) and we do after school coaching for 3-13 year olds for boys and girls of all abilities in Geneva region and Vevey. However we do holiday courses in Zug and Zurich which might be relevant for your children (as well as Basel, Bern). We have soccer camps this October half term in all of these regions which will be announced on our website shortly, the Zug camp is in Baar and Zurich is at Seefeld. We will be starting after school courses in both of these regions in 2009 and will be looking to source coaches in these areas soon to hopefully give children more soccer opportunities.

Some of the children who come to our camps are already members of clubs but also many are not. Unfortunately I do not know the local club scene in this region although I have heard from parents that there is generally a waiting list.

Sorry cant be of too much help, some our junior coaches who assist at our camps and are at schools in zurich/zug might be able to help more in october with advice.

Cheers