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Is it possible for any athlete to attend the United School of Sports or are there certain admission criteria? (If yes, what are they?)
 

There are basically two admission criteria:

Suitability for the E profile: Completion of elementary school; top school level with good performance or middle school level with very good performance in the main subjects.

In addition, holders of a Swiss Olympic Talentcard (from regional level) are preferred. In any case, a training volume of at least seven training units per week is required during the training. On the part of the sport, a written performance or potential assessment is mandatory with the application.

What characterizes the United School of Sports as opposed to the public commercial school or other private schools?

The United School of Sports is a school that has been providing successful athletes with the optimal mix of sports and education for years. United also has many great partners who offer athletes an exciting two-year apprenticeship. Therefore, for me, United is the best solution for young sports talents who want to do a commercial apprenticeship.

Can you recommend the school to others? If so, especially for whom? And what, if anything, could be optimized?

Definitely. However, only for all young talents who are ready to give 200% and not for the athletes who want to have a casual education.

Many sports talents attend the United School of Sports - how is the camaraderie and the general climate? Are there exchanges between the different sports? Do you have the feeling that the pressure of competition is also stronger in the school than in a public school, for example?

No, we turn off our sports competition there and have a fun and educational time at school. We talk a lot about mental topics, like nervousness before tournaments. That's where we give each other tips. However, not about our specific sports, but about general topics that affect everyone.
 

Are the teachers all former top athletes?

No, they are mostly teachers who are sports enthusiasts and who understand us very well as athletes.

You are smzh's first student. How did the employment come about?

The smzh became a partner of the United School of Sports in spring 2021. Unfortunately, I don't know the details, but our former principal Simon Massari was very involved with the history and vision of smzh and also visited the offices. The company was special, he kept mentioning to my class. At the time, I had applied for two potential jobs with our partners and very likely would have received them. However, I had a very good relationship with Mr. Massari, so he wanted to place me with smzh. I sent a letter of application with my references to United through him and received an invitation for a first interview, which was very pleasant with Peter Siber and Rexha Hasani. I then spent a day sniffing around and became smzh's first apprentice.
 

What do you think makes smzh special?

I think that both the management and the team leaders, who have been there for a long time, make up smzh. The management has a vision that they strictly follow and the team leaders try to accompany and support their teams as much as possible to meet the requirements.