Balancing a professional apprenticeship with an athletic career requires early mornings, sleep discipline, and flexibility from employers, according to an interview.
Balancing a Basic Apprenticeship With Badminton Training
Matti, an athlete currently completing a basic apprenticeship year at the Berufsbildungszentrum in Altstetten, manages a demanding schedule that pairs office work with competitive badminton. Before beginning his professional training, he spent his time at the Talent Campus Winterthur, where he trained 12 times a week. Under his current schedule, that volume has dropped by half, averaging three weekly training sessions alongside frequent weekend matches and championship games.
Professional tasks involve sitting in front of a screen rather than strenuous physical labor, which makes evening sports an effective mental outlet. To accommodate training, he arrives at the vocational center in Altstetten by 7:00 a.m., well ahead of the mandatory 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. input sessions, freeing up his afternoons and early evenings.
Early Mornings and Commute Routines
Daily routines begin at 5:50 a.m., followed by a roughly 30-minute commute to vocational school. To protect his recovery time and meet the athletic requirement of at least eight hours of sleep per night, he minimizes morning routines and eats breakfast on the train. Return arrivals home typically occur around 10:00 p.m. or later, leaving little room for traditional physical socializing.
Social interactions take place primarily through digital channels, phone calls, and interactions built directly into his daily environments at work, school, and training clubs.
Employer Flexibility and Educational Accommodations
Securing a regular apprenticeship while maintaining a heavy athletic schedule required significant cooperation from his employer, the SMG Group, and the vocational school BBW. Although initial job interviews suggested he would need to scale back his sport, negotiations secured a sports exemption (Sportdispens) for his school days at BBW, permitting a higher training volume conditioned on maintaining strong academic grades.
Avoiding a dedicated sports apprenticeship was a deliberate economic choice. Professional badminton in Switzerland does not offer a viable living wage, even for top-tier national competitors or multiple national champions, given the dominance of international competitors from Asia. Choosing a secure professional path provides long-term stability while allowing competitive play to continue as an avocation.
International Tournaments and Academic Standards
International competitions introduce further scheduling hurdles. While domestic Swiss tournaments occur over weekends, foreign events frequently begin on Thursdays, requiring departures by Wednesday and causing athletes to miss one to two days of school. Travel demands are managed by completing schoolwork during commutes, such as bringing a laptop on a seven-hour train ride to an upcoming tournament in Luxembourg to divide time between sleep and assignments.
Personal academic standards remain high, with an ambition to maintain a grade average around 5. By absorbing material quickly during classroom instruction, he completes most coursework on-site without requiring extensive independent study outside of transit periods.
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