Christian Modes, the managing director of EHC Arosa, is passionate about his job
Image: Keystone
There was a lot of frustration for Arosa's head coach Rolf Schrepfer in the derby against Chur
Image: Keystone
The EHC Arosa ice rink is in an idyllic location
Image: Keystone
The Arosa fans saw little that was uplifting against Chur
Image: Keystone
In the derby between Arosa and Chur, much of the action took place in front of the home team's goal
Image: Keystone
Christian Modes, the managing director of EHC Arosa, is passionate about his job
Image: Keystone
There was a lot of frustration for Arosa's head coach Rolf Schrepfer in the derby against Chur
Image: Keystone
The EHC Arosa ice rink is in an idyllic location
Image: Keystone
The Arosa fans saw little that was uplifting against Chur
Image: Keystone
In the derby between Arosa and Chur, much of the action took place in front of the home team's goal
Image: Keystone
EHC Arosa is back in professional field hockey - at least on paper. Behind the sporting ascent lies an organizational tour de force that places great demands on the traditional club.
30.10.2025, 04:31
30.10.2025, 06:47
SDA
On arrival in Arosa, you could be forgiven for thinking it was already winter. On Monday, 30 centimetres of snow fell. Caution is advised when walking, the paths are slippery. EHC Arosa has also entered difficult terrain. The traditional club, which was founded in 1924 and became Swiss champions nine times between 1952 and 1982, voluntarily withdrew from the top league in 1986 for financial reasons. This year, it ventured to move up to the Swiss League.
When asked by the Keystone-SDA news agency what the biggest challenges were, Christian Modes, the club's managing director since May 1, 2024, replied: "Everything, really." Adjustments had to be made to the stadium, for example, and every home game had to be produced in-house, which is why "almost a small television studio" had to be purchased. Refereeing costs rose massively. And last but not least, a team had to be put together that wasn't just an extra. In view of the budget, which according to Modes amounts to 1.6 million francs and has roughly doubled compared to the previous season, this was "of course not easy". This is because the players only receive more or less an expense allowance - nothing more.
Difficult agents
This is why Arosa relies on young players who want to take the next step. According to "Elite Prospects", the average age of the team is 21.90 years, only the Bellinzona Snakes (20.66) are younger in the Swiss League. Modes explains: "We had to be careful. Agents were calling us, and if I may say so, there was nothing but fruit at the beginning. We had to find players who suited us."
In any case, it's one of those things with agents, who naturally have their own interests. This also leads to problems, as Arosa coach Rolf Schrepfer emphasizes to Keystone-SDA in the coaching dressing room: "There are agents who interfere and say: 'No matter what the coach says, you just have to score goals. Then we can earn money with you'." That's not just a problem for them.
Schrepfer also finds it incomprehensible that clubs with U21 elite teams want to keep players who have already exceeded the age limit and tell them that playing in the U21 elite is still more worthwhile. That's absolute nonsense. If they came to them afterwards, they wouldn't be able to use them for a year. "I really struggle with that."
Ambitious goal
Both Schrepfer and Modes, who gave up his own business to devote himself entirely to his passion for ice hockey, are a real stroke of luck for EHC Arosa. Both are doers. Modes explains: "We have a three-year plan." This plan envisages that the team will be able to establish itself in the midfield from the third season after promotion - a very ambitious goal that can probably only be achieved with more money. Modes is therefore challenged. He is already looking for new sponsors for the coming season. "We're on the right track," he says.
For Schrepfer, it is clear that the goal cannot be achieved with only young players. He therefore hopes that two or three experienced players can be signed. "Otherwise, we will stick to our path of training young and wild players," he says. In any case, the Swiss League would look different if it were up to him. Then only five Swiss outfield players would be allowed to be over 23 years old plus two foreigners. "This could be discussed for the goalies," says Schrepfer. In addition to more training, this could save money. "Because the National League is more or less a closed league - we don't need to discuss that."
As much as Schrepfer likes to promote talent in Arosa, he emphasizes: "You simply have to seize the opportunity." The 52-year-old, who won the championship title twice as a player with the ZSC Lions and once with Bern, would like to see some of them do even more - on their own initiative. It annoys him that he always has to be the watchdog, so to speak. "Even when I was still a player, I said that out of ten players, only two can train on their own. You have to be there for the rest and guide them," says Schrepfer.
Results are secondary
However, Arosa's start to the Swiss League is impressive, even though they are in second-last place with twelve points from 14 games. The team is not, as many feared, cannon fodder for the opposition - at least not most of the time. One of the exceptions was the 1:7 on Tuesday evening against cantonal rivals Chur. This contrasts with victories against Visp (3:1) and in Basel (2:0). Visp had previously won all six competitive games of the season.
The defeat against Chur naturally annoyed Schrepfer, who said before the game: "We're actually very satisfied. The difference to the MyHockey League is huge - in terms of the strength of the duels, the pace and the speed of thought. We're still losing the duels in front of goal, partly because we're not strong enough. We're paying quite a lot of tuition fees there. We also have deficits in puck control. But we're learning and giving our all in every game. Sometimes we do well, sometimes we lose big. That's normal - we knew that. As a training club, the result is secondary. Everyone has to understand that."
