posted Dec 19th, 2012 - The last NSL News contribution for Blue Skies Mag was published right after the live coverage of the USPA Nationals 2012. The results in Eloy were food for a lot of thoughts, which were also related to the Mondial Dubai 2012.

The potential for a sweep in the four events of Formation Skydiving in Dubai was the topic for the second time. France did it in 2010, and an earlier article discussed the chances for a repeat sweep. The "Turning Points" column in November was a look at the situation from the other side. Eventually, neither France or the USA were able to sweep it this time, and this special battle ended up tied with two sets of gold medals for both delegations.

The live coverage of the Mondial Dubai 2012 was also a part of the 10-year anniversary of NSL News event coverage. The new Blue Skies Mag column this month was a reflection of this very enjoyable job in the last decade. Well, it was not always only fun...

Turning Points: 10-Year Anniversary of NSL News

The 2012 season is coming to an end while the main event is still ahead: the Mondial 2012 in Dubai.

This event will make the history books, no doubt, not only because Katy Perry and Usher are scheduled to perform at the closing ceremony. There will be record participation and most exciting competition in all formation skydiving events.

It is also perfectly timed to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of NSL News. It was former IPC President Patrice Girardin who invited the NSL News for the first time to cover a World Championship of Formation Skydiving journalistically from the athletic angle for the host. In fact, the World Meet 2003 in Gap, France was also an FAI Mondial where the NSL News had the honor to cover the formation skydiving competition part of it.

Ever since, the NSL News has covered each World Championship of Formation Skydiving live from the competition site, by invitation from the host (Croatia 2004, Germany 2006, France 2008, Russia 2010). Skydive Dubai is the host of the Mondial 2012 and continues with this tradition.

The NSL News services were not planned for in any way when it all began. The National Skydiving League is actually much older and was launched without any news services. The first scores of 1996 in Florida and in the following years were communicated by Skydiving Magazine and Parachutist. Then came the Internet and the first version of the NSL website, created with the Netscape Communicator program in my bedroom, published scores and added a few photos and commentary.

It was also the beginning of a rollercoaster relationship with USPA. I have been a USPA member since the early '90s and even competed for the U.S. delegation at the World Cup 1996 in Belgium after my 4-way and 8-way team career in Germany. The relationship with USPA changed when Pete Allum (Sebastian XL), Solly Williams (DeLand Equanimity), I (DeLand VNE), and other fellow competitors in Florida decided to launch our Florida Skydiving League at the end of the 1996 season.

We did not ask USPA or anybody else whether we could—or should—do this or not. Hey, it's the land of golden opportunities, of the American Dream, and our dream was more frequent competition. So we just did it—and it worked well. At no time did any of us ever have the ambition to compete with USPA in any area. Our goal was to add something of value to the formation skydiving community by increasing the number of regional meets and recruiting more teams and competitors.

The troubles began when the first NSL Championship brought together the league champions from Florida, Georgia, and Texas in DeLand in 1998, and several more teams from other regions a year later. The NSL monster continued to grow year by year, and the business model needed to be changed. Neither the bedroom would do any longer, nor a few night hours on the computer.

A good friend and 8-way teammate offered his help and partnership, and the National Skydiving League became an LLC with an office and a full-time officer—me. No more coaching and consulting, the NSL needed full attention. Another good friend offered help by creating a new website, and the current database version was born in 2003/2004. The NSL News services became a more significant part of the NSL "business."

I still cannot tell exactly what went wrong at times, but USPA did not like too much what was going on in the NSL world. I guess that I did not make it clear enough that I NEVER wanted to be an organization like USPA. I did not (and still do not) want to deal with government issues, insurance and other administrative duties. I just wanted to run more meets and participate myself, and eventually also bring the events to the skydiving audience and to the general public. USPA must have been under the impression that the NSL was planning and preparing a hostile takeover, or something like that, as the relationship was not very friendly, especially when I went to the USPA Nationals to compete and cover the event journalistically at the same time.

Alan Metni, now SkyVenture CEO and owner but Arizona Airspeed member at that time, tried once to help me straighten out the relationship with USPA. We traveled to Eloy in one of the early NSL years and met with board members to clarify and define our purposes. After several hours of deliberation we left frustrated. There was no ground for a friendly and productive cooperation, Alan said right after the meeting.

However, USPA and NSL both continued to do good things for the sport, and there were times when the relationship was productive. In particular, board directors Marylou Laughlin and BJ Worth encouraged cooperation, and there were good results. USPA and NSL synchronized the dive pools and rules between AA Class and Intermediate Class and then between A Class and Collegiates. It made it easier for all USPA members and teams to participate on both sides.

The biggest trouble always occurred at the USPA Nationals. Larry Bagley, USPA's former Director of Competition, was very protective of USPA property and usually suspected infringements by the NSL when I visited USPA Nationals, sometimes just to compete, sometimes just to write for the NSL News, sometimes both. However, over the years, we learned to know and appreciate each other, and the hostile atmosphere for the NSL News at USPA Nationals finally diminished. I understood that Larry just tried to protect USPA property, and he saw that the NSL was actually not a threat, and even beneficial for the sport.

It was also the time when Omniskore had pretty much gone into hibernation, and the sport was looking for and creating other judging and DZ-TV systems. The NSL News had filled the gap that Tim and Ted Wagner's "Tidbits and Tedbits" had left, at least to a certain extent.

Then things changed again. Skydive Arizona owner Larry Hill decided to modernize Omniskore and bring it back into judging and DZ-TV business, together with Tim and Ted Wagner. The new HD system brought much improved quality to this year's Nationals, and the Wagner twins were also back in all areas. In addition, USPA has a new Director of Competition. Jimmy Hayhurst took the job last year and is now also in charge of protecting USPA property.

It should not have been a big surprise for the NSL News and me to face a more challenging situation at Nationals this year. Tim and Ted Wagner brought new and excellent quality to the USPA Nationals, however they may have missed the friendly cooperation between USPA and NSL in the past years. Jimmy Hayhurst may still have to experience for himself that the NSL is not doing or planning any harm to USPA and the sport. It is probably a new phase of dating and learn­ing between both sides, but the idea—at least on my end—is still the same, no matter what. I appreciate everything that USPA is doing, and I don't want to do what they do. I love formation skydiving competition and cannot get and cover enough of it. Hope­fully soon I will also compete again at USPA Nationals...