Raimondo Ponte sad and grateful "Sven Hotz was a man of honor - there is no such president today"
Sven Hotz passed away at the age of 96. His long-time coach Raimondo Ponte remembers "Mr. FCZ" and raves about his openness, fairness and dancing skills. He always brought him homemade tiramisù at Christmas until the very end.
Raimondo Ponte is one of the very few members of the former FCZ family who kept in touch with Sven Hotz and his family. "Raimondo brings home-made tiramisù to us every year on December 24. Imagine what a lovely gesture that is!" said Hotz's daughter Kristine Scheiwiller two and a half years ago. Ponte smiles and says to blue, "I have to clarify - my wife always makes the tiramisù, otherwise it would be inedible."
The world of the former FCZ patron has become smaller and smaller in the last few years of his life. Hotz developed dementia years ago and, with increasingly rare exceptions, no longer recognizes anyone. And yet the Pontes still bring their Christmas dessert year after year.
"There's no longer a president like him"
A matter of course for Ponte. "Sven Hotz was a man of honor. You won't find a president like him today." He and his players always interrupted training when the president stopped by to shake their hands. His best quality? Ponte: "He was open and direct. If two parties had problems with each other, he took both of them into his office at the same time and discussed the situation together. Always open, always direct. I learned that from him and copied it."
Ponte not only remembers Hotz as a man of honor, he also has fond memories of his dance interludes. Not his legendary ones for the public after winning the cup and the league title, but the dances with his wife at numerous parties. "If there was music, he always danced with his Ruth. He was a great, passionate dancer."
Ponte is sad, but also grateful. He says: "It was nice to have met such a person. It was an honor."
