Corin Rüttimann, Lea Hanimann and Helen Bircher have announced their retirement from the Swiss national team as did Andrea Gämperli already earlier this year.
No Swiss player has played more international matches and scored more goals than Corin Rüttimann. Rüttimann is the most successful Swiss player of all time to retire from the international floorball stage. She has left it open as to whether she will continue to play for the club.
The numbers of Corin Rüttimann’s international floorball career are impressive. She has won two World Championship silver medals and four World Championship bronze medals at eight World Floorball Championships. She also won a gold medal at the U19 World Championships in 2008 and could always be relied on to score goals. She was the 7th best scorer of the tournament at her first Women’s WFC in 2009. Today, 15 years later, she holds several WFC records: nobody has played more games than her (48), nobody has scored more goals (61) and, together with Sweden’s Emelie Wibron, she holds the overall record for the most points scored at WFC (98). She has been selected for the WFC All-Star Team three times: in 2011, 2015 and 2017.
A year ago, the player from Graubünden scored her 200th point in an international match, which is also a Swiss record. Over the past few months, she has added further points to her tally, which now stands at 137 goals and 87 assists. Last autumn, she broke the next record: no Swiss player has played more international matches than her. One international match that stands out from her 141 is the 2019 WFC final in Neuchâtel. ‘Not just the game itself, but the whole team, the whole staff and the atmosphere in the hall were unique,’.
Andrea Gämperli made her first appearance for Switzerland at World Floorball Championships in 2017, followed by her fourth and final WFC last December in Singapore. During this time, the player from Jonschwil played 63 international matches, scoring 25 goals and providing the same number of assists. She won two bronze medals and one silver at the home WFC in Neuchâtel – a WFC that was clearly the most memorable.
Various aspects ultimately led to her ending her career at the end of the season: ‘In recent years, I have always subordinated my personal interests and professional ambitions to floorball. In particular, the balancing act between my job and floorball has taken up a lot of my energy. My heart still beats for the sport – but I feel it’s time to reprioritise and have more time for my dreams and goals outside of floorball.’
In Switzerland, the 29-year-old played exclusively for the Kloten-Dietlikon Jets or UHC Dietlikon, as the club was previously known, where she was top scorer on several occasions and captain in recent years. She celebrated countless successes with the team: four championship titles and six cup successes. The first championship title with Dietlikon in 2017 is one of her highlights, as it was her first championship title after losing the final in previous years. She also received the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award this season. ‘Floorball has given me many unforgettable moments, each of which is unique. I had many great encounters and met friends for life.’
Lea Hanimann has also decided to step down from the national team. She was called up to the senior team for the first time in 2017 and played in the 2021 and 2023 World Floorball Championships. In total, she made 37 appearances for Switzerland. ‘My most memorable moment with the national team was the first WFC when we won bronze. Overall, however, there are many moments that I will never forget. It’s incredible how many friends I’ve made.’
Now, however, it has slowly become too much floorball for her, which is why the 27-year-old will no longer be part of the national team. She was able to take one week’s holiday per year and invested the remaining holiday days in the national team. In future, she would prefer to use this time for other things that she has not done before. ‘Floorball is still a lot of fun for me, but there are other sports that I also enjoy,’ says Hanimann.
Helen Bircher has been a member of the national team or extended squad since 2010. She won the World Championship gold medal with the U19 team in 2008 and took part in three Women’s World Floorball Championships in 2011, 2013 and 2015. However, the first one in 2011 in St. Gallen ended for her on the very first day as she was ruled out injured. The other two World Championships in 2013 and 2015 were more successful for her and the team, who won the bronze medal.
At the Euro Floorball Tour 2022, Bircher was back in goal for Switzerland for the first time since 2017. Most recently, she travelled to the 2023 World Floorball Championships in Singapore as the third goalkeeper. She has fond memories of her time with the national team, including the international matches: ‘I always had a lot of fun playing against the best teams in the world, especially Sweden. The first international matches were certainly special too.’
Bircher played in Sweden for five years (two with IBF Falun, three with Rönnby Västeras). Before that, she was in goal for Zug United and won the Cup title in 2014. After returning to Switzerland in 2019/20, Bircher joined Skorpion Emmental Zollbrück, where she kept goal until this spring. Although she never managed to win a title with the Emmental team, she personally won the award for the best goalkeeper in the league three seasons in a row. ‘The main reason for retiring is time,’ says Bircher. The long journeys to and from training sessions were pushing her to her limits. ‘I’m now looking forward to the time I have available to me.’
Source: swiss unihockey
