Kurt Gaebel is Skydiver of the Year for 2000. Gaebel earns the award for his tireless effort to nuture the National Skydiving League until it grows into a solid, self-sufficient organization that lifts competitive skydiving to the upper levels of professional athletics.

He's not doing this alone, of course. Investors and sponsors who share his vision continue to pay the league's modest overhead. The directors of nearly a dozen regional leagues in the U.S. cheerfully donate their time and effort to organize and run the local meets that serve as the NSL's foundation.

But Gaebel is clearly the conductor of this orchestra of volunteers and benefactors. Not only does he have a plan, he has an answer for every question. It's hard not to believe in someone who not only has a goal but knows exactly how he intends to get there - and who won't be deterred.

Now in its fifth year, the NSL provides competitive RW skydivers with an opportunity to test and develop their skills in well-run but reasonably priced meets. For competitors, league meets also give important structure to their summer season, a reason to jump and to train. Before the NSL, it was common for teams to compete in only one meet a year - the Nationals.

Gaebel realized that the league will only be really successful if it attracts enough interest from the media and the public to draw significant dollars from advertisers and sponsors. He works hard to make NSL meets media friendly, and, judging by what we've seen, those efforts are paying off.

But even if they don't appear on TV, the hundreds of skydivers who participate in NSL meets are clearly happy for the opportunity to compete against their peers. It sure beats trolling the DZ, looking for like-minded people to jump with.

Our panel of judges was especially impressed by the many nominations it received for Gaebel. At first the judges thought this might be a carefully conducted campaign of ballot-box stuffing. But after finding not even a dimpled chad among all the letters and e-mails they received the judges decided the nominations were indeed genuine. The volume is ample proof that Gaebel's efforts are recognized and appreciated by rank and file skydivers from coast to coast.

Gaebel isn't a desk-bound administrator, either. A long-time member of the national RW teams of his native Germany, Gaebel last year held down a slot on the 4-way team "Teiwaz", and won a gold medal in the Advanced Class at the U.S. Nationals. That gold medal proves he can turn and burn with the best. That means a lot to our judges.

Will Gaebel realize his vision? We certainly don't know. Some critics contend - perhaps correctly - that RW skydiving isn't at all interesting to the public. Like so other little known sports, skydiving might forever be one with ardent participants but few spectators. The fact that the NSL is still very dependent on its corps of volunteers makes some wonder if it will survive the transition to an organization where its workers are paid for their efforts.

But Gaebel ignores the skeptics and pushes on. You can't help but admire his persistence and passion, nor could the judges. They like skydivers who are willing to strive to achieve the difficult and, in doing so, improve the sport for its participants.

If anyone can pull this off, Gaebel can.