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This page will be updated once a week with the latest news from the "National Skydiving League". Special thanks to Kurt Gaebel, founder of the league and webmaster of its web site. | [Updated: January 9, 2001]
Golden Knights' 2001 Competition ScheduleGreat news for three NSL leagues in the country: the Golden Knights have several league meets of the regular season on their event calendar. Don't forget: we are talking about the 4-way team of the Golden Knights. As it used to be with the 8-way team, the Golden Knights are now putting as much effort into their new 4-way world. Team captain John Hoover wants the same success for his 4-way team as he used to have in 8-way.
The 4-way meet schedule is showing how serious the Knights are in their pursuit of new 4-way goals. And these goals are set on a high level. Scoring will begin at a beginning level of 18.5 as the training showed. The first competition is only two weeks away.
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More on
NSL's web site |
Since the training will begin in Arizona, the Golden Knights will be guests at the season opener of the Southwest Skydiving League on January 21st at Skydive Arizona in Eloy. League director Graham Harding will like it, his first meet will be on a world class level with both Airspeed 4-way teams, the Golden Knights and Elsinore Matrix competing. The Knights will not be finished with their west coast business after this meet. They will also attend the second season meet of the Southwest Skydiving League in Perris and the Valentine's Meet in Eloy. It would not be surprising if the Knights were already past the 20-point average in March. Then they will fly this performance level back to the east coast.
The Florida Skydiving League season meet three at Skydive America will be next on the list. At this meet, they will face the UK world class team Sebastian XL, probably the DeLand Norgies and other top teams from DeLand. DeLand PD Blue and FX have not decided yet about their team future. The rest of the Golden Knights' season will be dedicated to their local business. They will fully participate in the Carolina Skydiving League missing only one meet in July. But they may get the chance to attend a July meet at the Ranch. Playoffs, Championships and hopefully a handful of medals will conclude the 2001 season for the Knights. The NSL News will keep following the Knights' path around the country.
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LaLa Design won the U.S. Nationals 2000 ...in a simulation!After creating the FS4 Motion Coach, Yola van der Wal surprised the NSL headquarters with another masterpiece of skydiving software, Flash Dancers. LaLa Design picked up the competition with the top teams of the world at the U.S. Nationals 2000. Van der Wal's Flash Dancers competed against Airspeed Vertical, France Perris-Maubeuge, FX, PD Blue, the Norgies and the Golden Knights over the ten rounds of the whole competition. The Flash Dancers performed flawlessly and won the meet with an average of 22.0, finishing seven points ahead of Airspeed Vertical. All of LaLa Design's competition jumps can now be viewed after downloading the program from the NSL website.
Van der Wal created this program to demonstrate the possibility of showing the jump sequence of each round by computer animation prior to the actual skydiving performance of the teams. After Lala Designs had introduced the FS4 Motion Coach, the NSL headquarters asked Van der Wal if it were possible to create a similar program for the jump introduction. The NSL headquarters had the possibly upcoming TV production in mind when discussing this issue with Van der Wal. However, Van der Wal said that she would give this project some thought although it would be time-consuming. The U.S. Nationals of the Flash Dancers is now the result of Van der Wal's efforts.
The NSL headquarters proceeded with the preparation for the TV production in the meantime anyway. Another mastermind of computer technique became interested in this project when the NSL headquarters explained the idea for the jump introduction. Tim Wagner of Omniskore took on the challenge to produce a Flash Dancer round for the NSL Championship 2000. The result was just as impressive as Van der Wal's U.S. Nationals. Tim Wagner's computer animation became a part of the TV show. Together with the whole jump introduction it will be shown at the NSL website.
For now, enjoy how the LaLa Flash Dancers are out performing the best teams in the world. By the way: the FS4 Motion Coach is a training tool that every 4-way competitor and coach should have available. A link to the free trial version is still offered at the NSL frontpage. |
The Southeast Skydiving League is looking for a Director of CompetitionSESL Director Matthew Cline has been working on the preparations for the inaugural season of the new Southeast Skydiving League for a while. The draft schedule is already posted. Hosts for the meets are committed. Two meet locations have been determined. Some sponsors are lined up. However, Cline is still missing one piece in his league puzzle. Although he will be directing the efforts for the new league, he will not be able to attend all meets in person. Cline is now looking for a "Director of Competition" in his league.
The DoC will be in charge for the actual meet management on site. Cline himself will have prepared the meets in advance and communicate with the hosting skydiving centers and with the teams. The DoC's responsibilities will include the competition draw, the jump order, communication with manifest and putting the scores on the scoreboard. The DoC could be the event judge at the same time if wanted. Even a competitor could take on this position if he/she feels that he/she will be able to handle both jobs. However, the DoC should be attending all meets. It will be benefitial for this job to learn and gain experiences meet by meet. As all the teams, the DoC will have fun learning to know the participating skydiving centers in the league region. The Southeast Skydiving League is including regions of Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama. People who are interested in getting involved with the new league can get in touch directly with SESL director Cline: skypro01@hotmail.com. Blue Skies - Go Compete, 12/31/00 |
The NSL Calendar of Events for 2001 begins filling upThe NSL 2000 season has just come to its end, and the NSL 2001 season is beginning to get in shape. While most teams and competitors are still resting and only a few have already begun planning for the 2001 season, the league directors are busy creating their schedules for the next season. Only the Southwest Skydiving League and the Colorado Skydiving League have their complete schedules worked out and posted. Florida and Georgia recently set up the dates but are still missing the locations. The Southeast Skydiving League and the Carolina Skydiving League have posted part of their schedules. The first season of the National Skydiving League with the Florida Skydiving League, the Texas Skydiving League and the Georgia Skydiving League in 1998 had a total of sixteen meets.
In 1999, the eight leagues held a total of 35 meets. The 2000 season had a total number of 61 NSL meets everywhere in the country, including NSL Playoffs and Championship. With more new leagues in the works for the 2001 season, the number of meets will most likely go up even more. At this time, 25 competitions have already been scheduled by only four leagues. Three additional meets have been set as part of other league schedules. With a total of probably fifteen leagues in the country, a total number of 70 competitions and more can be expected for the 2001 season. The NSL headquarters will update the 2001 Calendar of Events regularly. You'll find the first edition at the bottom of this page. |
Sebastian XL will compete at the Florida Skydiving League 2001Good news for the Florida Skydiving League: Sebastian XL is planning to fully participate in the 2001 season. XL had competed in the very first season of the Florida Skydiving League in 1997 placing second. They won the FSL Championship 1998 after a jump-off with Genesis at the last season meet. Then they competed only as guest teams and guest competitors in the 1999 and 2000 seasons. And now they will be back with full power for the 2001 season. This will make the FSL 2001 season all the more exciting. In the non-handicapped FSL Open/Advanced Class, DeLand PD Blue did not really face serious competition this year. This will change with the upcoming season. And it will not only be Sebastian XL challenging the NSL Champion 1998, 1999 and 2000. Most likely, FX will be back with a world class team. And there is a good chance that they will compete in the FSL 2001 season. The DeLand Norgies will also be in DeLand and compete for most of the 2001 season.
However, Sebastian XL is highly motivated to attack the new competition season. They have a good reason to get competition practice. In June 2001, they will represent the United Kingdom at the 4-way World Championship in Spain. In 1999, XL finished fourth at the world meet, one single point behind Norway after an exciting neck-to-neck race over ten rounds. As it looks now, most of the FSL 2001 season meets will see XL and the Norgies challenging each other again. While the Norgies have continued with exactly the same team squad after the world meet in 1999, XL replaced Lee Love with Steve Hamilton. The other current team members are Pete Allum, Toby Stafford and John McIver.
The first competition of the regular FSL 2001 season is scheduled for January 27 or 28. The challenge for NSL Champion PD Blue may even continue after the regular season. Participating in the Florida Skydiving League will make XL and possibly the Norgies eligible for medals at the NSL Playoffs and the NSL Championship 2001. Teams and competitors from other nations are not excluded from the National Skydiving League events. They will never be able to become the national team of the U.S.A. But this is a different issue. |
The Michigan Skydiving League is Under ConstructionThe growth of the National Skydiving League is continuing. Skydive Hastings in Michigan is the center of a new initiative launching the Michigan Skydiving League. Eric Bickel of Skydive Hastings is working together with veteran competitor Tim McKee to prepare the foundation for the first season in 2001. Skydive Hastings had recently put a lot of effort into improving their facilities. The new skydiving center has a lot to offer and the management would like to show their new place to the skydiving world.
The new league will offer Skydive Hastings and other skydiving centers in the area the opportunity to demonstrate their hosting services and expose their facilities. At the moment, McKee is contacting all possible hosts and participants introducing the concept. McKee has been a part of the Formation Skydiving community for a while. He has been skydiving since 1988, competing since 1994. He won the gold medal in the Intermediate Class 8-way competition at the U.S. Nationals 1996. He is a Michigan resident, but competed with DefCon4 at the Midwest Skydiving League through the 2000 season. DefCon4 won the MWSL Championship in the handicapped overall class.
McKee and Bickel think that the travel distances to the other leagues around (Great Lakes Skydiving League, Midwest Skydiving League) are too long for Michigan skydivers. They believe that Michigan, in itself, has enough skydivers and interest to run its own league. News regarding the new league will be posted as it comes up. McKee and Bickel will be glad to provide further information for interested hosts and participants. | ...more on Skydiving League's Website
...more on Skydiving League's Website
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