Luzern

When Andy Schmid came home to Kriens in 2022, he took the job as player-coach, and within a year had walked the club to the 2023 Swiss Cup, won 32:30 against Kadetten Schaffhausen.

Kriens went back to the same final two years later and beat Wacker Thun 33:32 for a second Cup. Then, in 2026, it went further still, sweeping Kadetten Schaffhausen 3:0 in the playoff final to take its first Swiss League Championship.

The club, known simply as Kriens, moved into the Pilatus Arena in the Mattenhof district in October 2025, leaving behind the old Sporthalle Mattenhof it had used for decades; the new hall holds 4,060 for handball. Schmid is set to take over again as head coach from the 2026/27 season.

It is the same pipeline the club has drawn on since it was founded in Kriens, near Lucerne, in 1966.