# Swiss national sports associations

A map of a former edition of the Atlas of Switzerland, the national atlas published by ETH Zurich. It opens only in the desktop atlas (version 4) for Windows and macOS, not in the web atlas; see the links below.

- Map: https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/theme/swiss-national-sports-associations/
- Short title: National sports associations
- Map id: 398
- Categories: Tourism and Leisure time › Sports federations › Major sports federations
- Keywords: Ball game, Leisure time, Precision sports, Top-class sports
- Published: 2017-01-04
- Last revised: 2022-04-25
- Content language: English
- Other languages: [Deutsch](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/de/thema/nationale-sportverbaende-der-schweiz.md), [Français](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/fr/theme/associations-sportives-nationales-de-la-suisse.md), [Italiano](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/it/tema/associazioni-sportive-nazionali-svizzeri.md)

## Description

Switzerland’s sports federations are responsible for organising national playing activities in their particular sport through championships and refereeing. They are also tasked with providing sponsorship and training in performance-oriented sport. On top of this, they act as interest groups and umbrella organisations for their clubs and represent their sport at international level. Larger federations (e.g. Swiss-Ski or the Swiss Football Association) are usually subdivided into regional or cantonal branches.
Some federations are geared very specifically towards one particular sport (e.g. the Swiss American Football Federation or the Swiss Streethockey Association). Others, however, serve as associations for a number of sporting disciplines (e.g. the Swiss Gymnastics Federation). There are also some national federations which cover sport purely on a secondary basis (e.g. Swiss cadets, the Swiss Guide and Scout Movement).
The largest sports federation in Switzerland is the Swiss Gymnastics Federation, which encompasses around 385,000 members and over 3,200 clubs. In terms of membership, the second largest federation is the Swiss Football Association with 272,000 members and 1,450 football clubs. However, with some 3,060 shooting clubs and 138,000 participants, the Swiss Shooting Federation boasts more than twice as many member clubs as the Swiss Football Association. The Swiss Shooting Federation was founded in 1824, making it the oldest sports federation in Switzerland.

## Sources

- Kempf et al. (2015): Das System Sport – in der Schweiz und international. Magglingen: Bundesamt für Sport

## Data sources

- ETH Zurich: [Atlas of Switzerland](https://www.atlasderschweiz.ch/)
- Swiss Olympic Association (2015): Verbände & Organisationen. Online unter: http://www.swissolympic.ch/Ueber-uns/Mitgliedverbaende/Verbaende-Organisationen

## Data owners

- [Atlas of Switzerland (AoS)](http://www.atlasderschweiz.ch/)
- [Swiss Olympic](http://www.swissolympic.ch/)

## Citation

The terms of use ask to name the Atlas of Switzerland and the data owners, and to keep the source references in exports, screenshots and embeds. Cite the map as:

> Atlas of Switzerland (2022): Swiss national sports associations. ETH Zürich. Map data © AoS, Swiss Olympic. https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/theme/swiss-national-sports-associations/

## Links

- Map page, with the description and sources and a button that opens the map in the desktop atlas: https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/theme/swiss-national-sports-associations/
- Open the map in the desktop atlas (version 4), where it is installed: adsglobe://map/398
- Download of the desktop atlas (version 4) for Windows and macOS: https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/ads4-download/

For the use and citation of maps and data, see the [terms of use](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/terms-of-use/).