Nanguita Antonioli was introduced to Tchoukball in 2009 by current teammate Gaël Sieber and now plays for Swiss club La Chaux-de-Fonds. Two years later she found herself in the junior Swiss national team, progressing through to the senior squad soon after, and has represented Switzerland in the European Championships from 2014 to present, captaining their 2016 team. Antonioli’s club have placed second and first in the European Tchoukball Silver Cups in 2017 and 2018 respectively, so it is fair to say that the right-handed defender spends her life dedicated to this unique sport.
Despite saying “tchoukball is my life”, we did manage to learn something about her away from tchoukball in that she has recently finished her bachelor’s degree in Biology and is now studying to be a science teacher. As a keen sportswoman, stepping into the world of tchoukball felt natural to Antonioli and she soon fell head-over-heels in love with it. Not only the joy of the sport and pleasure of meeting new people, but the mutual feeling between all players of fair play drew her in further, commenting that “It’s the most important value for me”. Her advice to new players is to ensure that respect for the rules and each other never dies down – and of course, always have fun!
Since she started playing tchoukball, she notes that the technique of the players, the tactics of the game and the physical side of the players have all completely changed and developed immensely. As for going forwards, she would like to see tchoukball become known to everyone – whilst maintaining its key principles and values, whilst also being played all around the world.
Her favourite moment in tchoukball so far was when her team La Chaux-de-Fonds won the Swiss Championship for the first time. This victory for Antonioli was defined by their hard work and clutch performance, confirming their place at EWC for the first time since 2009! Her aims for #ewc2019rade are to always do her best in both defence and attack in every match, and as a team, to be placed among the first seven teams in EWC 2019.