posted Sep 5th, 2013 - The Sun Path Products NSL News introduced UK's first 4way gold medalist from Northern Ireland on 6 August 2013. Fly Wild had won the Rookie Class competition at the Hibaldstow Cup 2013 with a 12.0 average.

The story mentioned that Fly Wild would come back to Hibaldstow three weeks later to compete at the UK Nationals 2013. The second trip to the same location turned out to be just as successful as the first one, as Fly Wild also won the first gold medals at the national championships for Northern Ireland.

The 12.4 average at the UK Nationals was more than enough to win. Almost all other Rookie Class teams of the Hibaldstow Cup came back, as well, including the most improved Team Meteor (4.5 - 9.3) who won the bronze medals at the UK Nationals.

UK Nationals 2013		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7	Round 8	Total	Avg
Rank	Rookie Class	J,C,Q	L,G,H	K,P,M	N,E,O	F,A,D	B,H,C	F,D,M	L,A,N	Total	Avg
1	Fly Wild (UK)	11	8	13	12	17	13	16	9	99	12.4
2	Royal Navy Sea Fury (UK)	6	9	11	14	14	9	11	12	86	10.8
3	Team Meteor (UK)	8	5	7	7	12	11	16	8	74	9.3
4	Sky Dogs (UK)	7	6	11	7	11	9	13	8	72	9.0
5	Why So Serious (UK)	6	6	11	10	8	9	13	5	68	8.5
6	Free4ll (UK)	4	4	12	7	7	11	16	6	67	8.4

The competition at the national championships was more challenging though, as the Royal Navy's Sea Fury lineup was attending, as well, who came from a consistent progression (6.3 - 9.0 - 8.3) this year to the 10.8 average after eight rounds in Hibaldstow. The Navy team won three rounds but could not keep up after all.

It was no surprise that the Fly Wild members were very excited and happy after winning the gold medals. Center Inside David Scott had his own recollection of the whole competition:

"Even though we where leading from the start we were all nervous until just before the last round. With the delays in the scores coming through we kept thinking we would get caught as it had felt at times we under performed. We unofficially knew we had won after round seven, so were able to relax after that, but it never felt real until we got our medals."

Center Outside Graham Wallace did not only share the same challenging thoughts and emotions with his team mates during the competition. Another very exciting situation came when the competition was actually over: "It was more nerve racking going on stage to receive our gold medal in front of a few hundred people than jumping from a plane..."

Last not least, Point Nadine Bibby brought it to her most important point: "To win gold at the British national championships was a dream come true, especially as it was our first year competing."

Fly Wild may come back in the A Class next year, as other Rookie Class winners have done it in the past. Last year's Rookie Class champion Equal Pay 4 Women now won the A Class silver medals and travels to Moorsele to compete for the United Kingdom at the ESL Championship 2013. This year's Rookie Class silver medalist Sea Fury will also collect points for the UK delegation in Belgium.