The values of field hockey? Team spirit and solidarity!

NextGen has decided to support the women’s team of the Black Boys Hockey Club. The only French-speaking Swiss team in the LNA and Swiss champions in 2018. Take a glance at one of its players, Nolwenn Chamorel, who hopes to attract other women to the Richemont field to play a sport that is too little publicized for her taste.

Six years ago, Nolwenn Chamorel was looking for a team sport to play with her friends. She could have turned to soccer or ice hockey, which are some of the most recognised disciplines in Switzerland, greatly acclaimed for their national teams’ global results. However, the Genevan was intrigued by another ball game, field hockey. A sport which, owes its modern rules to Great Britain and has, for several years now, been lead by Belgium and the Netherlands but seems to remain under the radar in our country. There currently is only one women’s team in the LNA, in the French-speaking cantons of Switzerland: the Black Boys.

At the age of 19, Nolwenn decided to embark on this adventure. She had never played lacrosse in her life and yet she was immediately integrated in the first LNA team. “I spent the next two years training, learning the techniques, without playing a single game. At first, I didn’t understand anything, I didn’t know how to position myself… But being around the best players in the league made me progress faster.” In 2018, she experienced, first hand, the first Swiss championship victory of the “Black Girls” which, also concluded the seven year uninterrupted dominance of the Rotweiss Wettingen (18 national titles since 1999).

Team spirit and emotions

“That day was very emotional for me,” says the Geneva native. “Seeing all my friends crying with joy, after all the efforts made to win this title, was very moving”. This is what Nolwenn enjoys the most about field hockey: the team spirit, the solidarity on the field, the emotions that go up or down depending on the results, the friendship that reigns around the turf… There also exists rivalry between the five other teams in the championship, all from German-speaking countries, which galvanises the ambitions and fighting spirit of the Genevan club.

Today, Nolwenn is a core member of the Black Girls. During two years (2018-2020) she was the administrative manager of the junior movement for the Black Boys and though now she also focuses on her studies at HEPIA (Geneva University of Landscape, Engineering and Architecture), she continues to play at the Richemont stadium and to proudly carry the “Black Girls” name. Her goal for this season? To score her first goal in the championship.

Promoting her sport !

Nolwenn is especially interested in making field hockey better known among women, “This sport doesn’t get much media coverage, it’s not very popular, that’s why it might scare girls a bit. On the field, we wear mouth guards and shin guards, but that doesn’t mean that field field hockey is more dangerous than any other sport”. The native Genevan, is delighted to witness the involvement of a company like NextGen with the “Black Girls” that will hopefully promote this discipline and give it the exposure it deserves.

The team has has recently slipped on a new jersey, it hasn’t however, abandoned its distinctive colours: pink and black. Most importantly, Black Boys will be hosting – with the support of NextGen – a special women’s day in May. “Each player on the team has the opportunity to invite girlfriends or classmates to discover her sport,” explains Nolwenn, who initiated this beautiful project. “This is the second year that we have set up such an operation. Our goal is to attract new players and strengthen our junior base.” A wonderful way to train the next generation of champions.

The values of field hockey? Team spirit and solidarity!

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