posted Feb 11th, 2012 - The Florida Skydiving League had its own windtunnel event last week. As usual, the February Tunnel Kicker at iFLY Orlando took place on a Tuesday evening and drew once again skydivers from different FSL areas for the next evening session of Formation Skydiving indoor training.

The FSL Tunnel Kicker has become so popular that the FSL management had to set up qualification rules prior to the February event. It had become difficult to plan efficiently for each tunnel session without any registration requirements. Eventually, the participants were asked to sign up early enough, so that head coach Ari Perelman could put together the lineups properly and make the dive plans.

Nothing else changed. Florida Skydiving League and iFLY Orlando once again provided the FSL 4way community with free flying time and free planning and coaching, as they have once per month since the Tunnel Kicker was launched last year.

Ari Perelman worked together with coaches Katie Woods and Bob Byrne this time to guide the participants through the 90 minutes of flying time. Ari Perelman and Katie Woods had competed together at the USPA Nationals 2011 with Throw Down (Ian Bobo, Kyle Collins - 19.0 in 6th place).

The 4way groups consisted of a player coach, another experienced 4way competitor and two FSL participants. Some of the 4way groups that have been forming at the previous events begin to develop teams skills with their own linups at the same time.

There are also still new tunnel flyers and potential 4way competitors at each new Tunnel Kicker who begin their tunnel experience with 1on1 sessions with a coach. The Florida Skydiving League then also offers indoor skills camps where the new flyers can fine tune their individual skills and get ready for the 4way fun at the Tunnel Kicker. The video of the February Kicker includes some 1on1 and 2on1 flying.

The FSL Tunnel Kicker program at iFLY Orlando picks up the pace from here on. Another indoor training session will follow in March (13th), right before the Shamrock Showdown 2012. This year's Shamrock is only a AAA Class competition, and the March Tunnel Kicker will mainly focus on 4way competition in the other three categories, as the FSL 2012 season with all categories will begin in April, and the first indoor competition at iFLY Orlando is coming up, as well.

The date is set for April 14th, and the preparations are in full swing. The NSL News will soon post more details. The indoor competition will be first and followed by the first outdoor meet of the FSL 2012 season a weekend later.

The participants of the last FSL Tunnel Kicker all voted for an indoor competition with eight rounds. It will be the first time this year that they will be able to apply the improved skills and compare them with others at a competition. As Arizona Airspeed's Mark Kirkby recently said: "Training is not quite the same unless you can back it up with a meet"...