posted Oct 31st, 2012 - M8Trix, the national 8way team from the Netherlands, is one of the guest teams at the USPA Nationals 2012. The lineup consists mostly of Dutch 4way competitors who decided to switch to the other Formation Skydiving event for a little while.

The little while could easily turn into a 4-year project. The team was put together in 2011, and the plans for another 2-year period after the Mondial 2012 are in the works.

Gary Smith, former 4way world champion of 2004 (DeLand Majik) and 2006 (DeLand Fire), is the player coach. He lives in the Netherlands after his years in DeLand and now brings his experiences and knowledge to Dutch teams in both events.

Mike Pennock is the team's videographer. He is one of the main players in running the European Skydiving League, which keeps growing year by year.

M8Trix is in the middle of the field with an 11.0 average after Round 5 and in 4th place of the international rankings. The Dutch 8way team had posted an 8.2 average at its first international competition, the World Cup 2011 in Germany.

M8Trix has embedded the USPA Nationals into the last training camp before the World Meet in Dubai. Player coach Gary Smith will travel to DeLand at the end of the week and put on his coaching hat only. NMP-PCH Hayabusa has scheduled a training camp in DeLand, together with several other teams, and Gary Smith has been working with the Belgian 4way top contender this year. At the moment, he still has to focus on the 8way job. Dubai Asaar 8 is the Dutch target...

USPA Nationals 2012			Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Total	Avg
Rank	8way Open Class	Â	3,6,5	2,D,14	C,P,B,M,11	22,9,A	L,4,G,13	E,F,8,10	Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights 8 (US)	United States	23	19	25	22	24	18	131	21.8
2	Sky Panthers Barkli 8 (RU)	Russia	21	17	24	17	21	18	118	19.7
5	Dubai Asaar 8 (AE)	Arabian Emirates	14	10	13	12	12	11	72	12.0
7	M8Trix (NL)	Netherlands	11	9	12	11	12	10	65	10.8
12	Maximum Ride (CA)	Canada	7	4	7	7	8	3	36	6.0