2011 - Stefan Leuenberger

THE FLYING HOPPERS PLAYER LIFETIME CAPTAIN AWARD

(only ever to be awarded once)

There are four types of men:

One who knows and knows that he knows….
His horse of wisdom will reach the skies.

One who knows, but doesn’t know that he knows….
He is fast asleep, so you should wake him up!

One who doesn’t know, but knows that he doesn’t know….
His limping mule will eventually get him home.

One who doesn’t know and doesn’t know that he doesn’t know….
He will be eternally lost in his hopeless oblivion!

Ibn Yamin,  Persian-Tajik poet  (1286 – 1368)

Dear Stefan,

In your case absolutely, your “horse of wisdom will reach the skies”!  And there are plenty of “known knowns” about you and ALL of them extraordinarily positive. Let us try to list up some of the main ones hereafter.

- You have celebrated in early 2011 your milestone birthday of 50 years old in very good health.
- You have played hockey from the early age of 7 and in sublime style.
- You are among the best – if not THE best – hockey player that Switzerland ever could count upon.
- You took it upon yourself to become (together with Toni Haberthuer and Sacha Overhoff) a founding member of The Flying Hoppers in February 1995.
- You have been the driving force in the developmental path that The Flying Hoppers have taken – in fact you represent the HEART AND SOUL of this unique “organization” or rather network of players and friends!
- You have over the many years planned and thereafter strongly influenced the execution of 25 great Hockey Tours all over the world. All the participants in one or several of those fantastic tours that you have masterminded will be eternally THANKFUL to you for the unforgettable memories !!
- Last but not least, you are hands-down holding the record in Flying Hoppers Tours participation – having only missed - due to injury - one of the 25 tours.

This year’s award is very special, as it will only ever get awarded once. The Flying Hoppers Player Lifetime Captain Award is unique and one and only one can rightfully claim to be its rightful holder – that is you, Stefan!

This honour is more than well deserved and it is only a small token of our great appreciation for all that you have done for us over these many years.

We naturally and somewhat selfishly also do hope and expect that you will continue to be the great driving force behind THE FLYING HOPPERS and that we can still enjoy many, many more great TOURS together with you.

Stefan, to sum it all up concisely and to the point:  A BIG THANK YOU from all of us!