posted Mar 27th, 2008 - Two more days until the start of the World Challenge 2008, and the NSL News completes the official eight rounds of the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2008 just in time. The videos of the teams that continued with Rounds 9 and 10 will be uploaded later.

Round 8 was the last round of the Skins Game. Skydive DeLand sponsored the round with $400 cash. Teiwaz won the money after handicap and forwarded it to the team in second place after handicap. The four former Teiwaz members of Sebastian Tempest appreciated the move and the cash from Skydive DeLand.

The NSL News had already reported on 12 March 2008 that two Rookie Class teams from Florida had signed up to compete side by side with 4-way world champions and world record holders. Both teams showed up, enjoyed the competition and collected meet experiences.

Down With The Syndrome's lineup consists of Anthony Formosa (Inside Center), Dan Scaber (Point), James Scarpelli (Tail) and Tiffany Szumila (Outside Center). Three of the team members had already competed at the USPA Collegiates 2007 where they finished with a 1.5 average after six rounds with the A Class dive pool.

The lineup at the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2008, with new member Dan Scaber, finished with a 5.3 average after eight rounds and competed in the Rookie Class this time. DWTS won one round over the strong local team Cold Turkey and tied another round. The competition in the Rookie Class would have been closer if the Embry Riddle team had not struggled with most of the exits.

Cold Turkey consists of Fraser Feltner (Center Outside), Renee Power (Point), Jim Prochaska (Center Inside), Hal Spence (Tail), with Bill Schmidt on camera. The team convinced the audience with a calm and well skilled performance, which promises a lot for the 2008 season. The 8.6 average after eight rounds included five 2-digit scores.

The winner of the Rookie Class competition won $150 cash, which was sponsored by the Sean Ryan Insurance Agency in DeLand. There was no handicap applied in the Rookie Class.

The winners of the other two competition classes were also included in the prize giving. The Norwegian Super Duper Fantastic 4-way Skydiving Team (SDF4ST) won $150 cash in the A Class, sponsored by the Roseborough Travel Agency in DeLand.

SDF4ST was another lineup of the Norwegian Spring Basic Camp. Arcteryx' Center Outside, Ditta Valsdottir, was guiding Anders Dahl, Morten Kvalsnes and Espen Lunde through the competition. The 8.3 average in the A Class is a good start for a potential new competition career. Most of the members of the Norwegian national teams launched their world-class careers exactly the same way.

Pam Manos (Center Outside) and Guido Marti (Center Inside) from Skydive Miami in Homestead introduced two new local skydivers and former students to skydiving competition at the FSL season opener. Trevor Cedar was in the Point position, and Alexandra Kolb flew the Tail slot for Zero Tolerance Miami. Luis Alvarez was on camera.

Guido Marti is actually the founder of Zero Tolerance, which was the first 4-way team that came out of Skydive Miami. The last modification of the team name was ZT Mal4mations, which attended all FSL meets and the NSL Championship in 2007. Guido Marti in the lineup now brought back the original team name.

Trevor Cedar and Alexandra Kolb attended their first 4-way competition and started already at the scoring level (7.1) where Zero Tolerance Miami of the early days and ZT Mal4mations performed before. The Florida Skydiving League has scheduled the July meet in Homestead and will visit Skydive Miami for the first time.

The winner of the AA Class competition won $150 cash as well, which was sponsored by Bev Suits. The prize came along with a 50% discount for a team set of new Bev Suits. There was no handicap applied in any other category but the AAA Class.

FSC Wind Damaged accepted the cash from Bev Suits after posting a 9.6 average in DeLand. The Lake Wales team still represents the Florida Skydiving Center and opened the 2008 season on a significantly higher scoring level compared to March 2007 (7.0 - 9.6) at last year's Shamrock Showdown.

The FSC lineup is identical with last year's (Gilles Dutrisac - Center Outside, Joel Kmetz - Center Inside, Mario Luppa - Tail, Martin McKerrell - Point, Pascoal Angelo - Camera). Wind Damaged had no direct competition on site and left three Brazilian AA Class teams behind when the weekend's leaderboard was complete.

FSC Wind Damaged has team plans laid out throughout the 2008 season, which will conclude with the USPA Nationals 2008 in October in Eloy and the NSL Championship 2008 in November.

A total of 24 teams completed Round 8 at the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2008. All teams togther lost ten points in the judging room. Blue Spirits from Sweden suffered the most with a deduction of three points. France Maubeuge won the round with clean 19 points from the Pilatus Porter. The Golden Knights lost their 19th point due to an infringement. Airspeed Odyssey, Fastrax and Black Cat each lost a point in the same round, as well.