posted May 19th, 2005 - The biggest meet weekend of the 2005 season is coming up this weekend. The NSL Schedule of Events shows that a total of 13 different leagues have scheduled 4-way competitions for May 21 - 22. Six of these events take place at NSL locations in the U.S.A., and seven leagues of the European Skydiving League (ESL) will also be active this weekend.

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NSL and ESL began to synchronize competition classes and competition draws in 2003, and it became normal procedure in 2004. The NSL SkyVenture Competition was also extended and included the European teams beginning in 2004. More countries in Europe have joined the NSL/ESL network for the 2005 season, and the upcoming weekend might break all records of the league history.

The six NSL leagues for this weekend compete in the Mideast (MESL), Midwest (MWSL), Texas (TSL), MidAtlantic (MASL), Florida (FSL) and Carolina (CASL). MESL, MWSL, MASL and TSL are kicking off the 2005 season with their first competitions this year. FSL and CASL have already completed their first events.

MESL and MWSL expect increasing participation for the 2005 season, and MESL Director Randy Connell is already excited about the perspectives of a great 2005 season. His area includes the new shooting star in the U.S. 4-way skies, Team Fastrax. Connell recently announced the upcoming event to his area's teams and competitors:

"This year seems to be shaping up as one of the largest yet! I have confidence in at least seven teams competing at this meet. And there is at least one team temporarily sidelined with injuries. We will have teams in the AAA, AA and Recreational Classes. Oddly enough, seven teams at this meet makes us one of the largest regional leagues in the USA. The Valentine's meet at Eloy and the Shamrock Showdown at Deland both had large turnouts, but standard meets showed somewhat less, with the Southwest showing nine teams and Florida six teams. My thanks to everyone who has some out and helped create this League!"

There is obviously a healthy competition between the leagues for great participation, and the progression of the 4-way activities shows the results. The Texas Skydiving League is one of the three oldest leagues in the country (Texas, Georgia, Florida) and will once again add several teams to the field this weekend.

The European Skydiving League will run events in seven different countries this weekend: Belgium, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Netherlands. Belgium (Belgium Skydiving Trophy - BST), Germany (Deutsche Sky Liga - DSL), Netherlands (Dutch Handicap Cup - DHC) and Austria already participated in the ESL on a regular basis last year. Switzerland, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom join the synchronized events for the 2005 season. Finland and Denmark launched their 2005 season already a few weeks ago, the scores were posted on the NSL website.

Some of the European top teams are expected to appear on the top of the AAA Class leaderboard, as Belgium's Spa Hayabusa, Germany's FSC Remscheid, Punky Fish for the Netherlands, while Team Fastrax will try to win the top position for the Mideast Skydiving League this weekend.

Fastrax and Spa Hayabusa went already neck to neck at the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2005 where only one single point separated them after ten rounds. This weekend might show if either team has been able to pull away a little bit further in the meantime. Fastrax and Spa Hayabusa will meet again live on site at the Malevsky World Cup 2005.

Austria's 4-way competition promises once again an exciting race for the top spot of the small country in the European Alpes, as well. Team Fila, 4-Matrix and Monkey Circus challenged each other meet by meet throughout the whole 2004 season. The NSL News story on August 10, 2004, covered the Austrian 4-way situation. All three teams will be back this year and plan to contend for the national championship title once again. The competition on the upcoming weekend is the first battle of the 2005 season.

Scores will be posted in all four competition classes. The European Skydiving League competes in the AAA Class and has also adopted the A Class dive pool of the NSL. The AA Class is naturally a very popular division in the U.S.A. since it is identical with USPA's Intermediate Class. Several Rookie and Recreational Class teams will also compete on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

The NSL News will collect scores, pictures, meet stories and videos and offer the information as soon as possible.