posted May 25th, 2013 - The outdoor season opener for the teams in the Netherlands is coming up in less than three weeks, the Tomscat Trophy 2013.

The event is related to the same traumatic plane crash in Perris in 1992 that caused the death of Dan BC's team mate James Lane, who is also Caroline Layne's brother. The NSL News reported on 29 April 2013 that Caroline Layne has now picked up 4way competition with DeLand Slide.

The Tomscat Trophy was created to commemorate two members of the Dutch 4way team Tomscat, Remie Herder and Sjaak Strating, who lost their lives in the same plane chrash. The two surviving Tomscat members, Jos Arkes and Gerard Fidom, are still competing and attended the Tomscat Trophy last year.

Tomscat Trophy 2012		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	C,5,D,B	3,22,17	10,M,2	18,16,6	21,4,19	K,G,7,E	L,9,P,A	Total	Avg
1	Thunder (BE)	26	15	19	17	19	22	32	150	21.4
2	Whooops (NL)	18	12	13	10	13	20	19	105	15.0
3	Creeps (NL)	13	7	14	10	13	17	17	91	13.0
4	Sky Dolphins (NL)	10	7	9	8	8	12	9	63	9.0
Rank	AA Class	C,D,B,19	22,E,A	M,2,H	18,6	21,4	K,G,7	L,9,P	Total	Avg
1	Cool Runnings (NL)	11	11	15	9	10	13	14	83	11.9
2	Habanero (NL)	8	10	14	9	10	8	13	72	10.3
3	Murphy Mania (NL)	10	9	12	9	8	11	11	70	10.0
4	Supernova (NL)	6	8	9	5	8	9	11	56	8.0
5	Pari-Passu (NL)	7	6	11	6	6	8	8	52	7.4
5	Buddies (NL)	8	5	11	7	7	7	7	52	7.4
7	4igami (NL)	8	9	10	7	7	8	-	49	8.2
Rank	A Class	C,D,B	E,A,19	M,2	6,H	21,4	K,G,7	L,9	Total	Avg
1	MACH4 (NL)	11	9	12	9	7	10	9	67	9.6
2	Watu Wazuri (NL)	7	4	8	7	5	4	7	42	6.0
2	TNT (NL)	10	5	7	1	7	6	6	42	6.0
4	Angry Birds (NL)	4	5	5	5	3	5	3	30	4.3
5	Dutch Outlaws (NL)	3	4	5	6	3	1	7	29	4.1
Rank	Rookie	C,D,B	E,A,L	M,J,N	H,Q,C	F,B,A	K,G,O	L,D,E	Total	Avg
1	Gravity Abuse (NL)	7	7	6	7	6	3	-	36	6.0
2	Shinobi (NL)	1	2	1	2	4	1	-	11	1.8

The Dutch season opener ist traditionally the first meet test for many teams in a new category. The two Rookie Class team of 2012, Gravity Abuse and Shinobi, have now signed up for the A Class competition where they will meet TNT, bronze medalist at the Tomscat Trophy 2012.

Last year's A Class winner MACH4 is moving up into the AA Class where Murphy Mania is the team to beat. Murphy Mania placed 3rd at the Tomscat Trophy and 2nd at the Dutch Nationals 2012. Cool Runnings won both events. The NSL News reported on 19 April 2013 that Cool Runnings has now moved up into the AAA Class, which opens the door to this year's AA Class gold medals for Murphy Mania.

Cool Runnings took on the AAA class dive pool for the first time at the Paraclete XP Outdoor Championship 2013 and finished just a few points short of the 10-average benchmark, which will probably be history after the Tomscat Trophy 2013.

Training April 2013		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	16,20,10	J,O,A,N,P	7,E,19	3,J,K,2	18,Q,15	1,6,C	4,21,B	8,D,F,H	11,L,13	M,22,12	Total	Avg
1	Barkli (RU)	18	49	23(-1)	23	22(-1)	21(-1)	21	30	20	17(-2)	244	24.4
2	Whooops (NL)	12	28	14	14(-1)	14	13	16	20	12	12	155	15.5

There will be another benchmark challenge in the Netherlands in three weeks, just on a different level. The Dutch national 4way team Whooops has not left behind the 15-average mark yet in an official competition. The NSL News reported on 21 April 2013 how Whooops did exactly that in a training meet with Barkli. However, that was a training meet, and the Tomscat Trophy is the opportunity for Whooops to confirm the training scores. The pressure is on...

There will be no challenge for the top team on another performance level five average-points higher. Thunder is already far beyond the 20-average benchmark, even though the slow competition draw at the Paraclete XP Outdoor Championship did not allow Thunder to post any new team records.

The Tomscat Trophy is the fourth meet for Thunder this year, which puts the Dutch/Belgian lineup on the top of meet attendance in 2013. Center Outside Paul Hofstee will win the Tomscat Trophy for the 19th consecutive time - unless he gets sick...