posted May 2nd, 2009 - The NSL News story on 3 April 2009 mentioned that the Texas Skydiving League is back in the NSL Network. Texas is the only league that includes 8-way competition at the meets of the regular season and has its own separate 8-way championship event.

Skydive Dallas has an 8-way tradition, and top competitors from different parts of the USA have now joined forces to form a new 8-way lineup for the 2009 season. Team member Ron Hill provided more details of the 8-way project.

When John Kuczaj took over as the new Manager of Skydive Dallas, he wanted to continue Skydive Dallas’s history of supporting high quality teams. The tradition began with Dallas Heat in the 90’s, continued with the Dallas Thunder Project, and expanded to include the standout freefly team Dallas Vibe, whose members took the Open Class silver medal in 2006. John Kuczaj knew that supporting high performance teams whose members organize local events and offer free coaching brings life and energy to the dropzone.

This season, John Kuczaj approached local 4-way jumper and former Dallas Thunder member Ron Hill about building a high performance team. Ron Hill had been in discussions with members of Mass Defiance, a 4-way team out of New England, about building an 8-way team for a number of years.

In 2005, Ron Hill’s team Phugoid competed in the AAA/Open Class at the USPA Nationals and Mass Defiance in USPA's Advanced Class, but both teams went blow for blow on the same draw for all ten rounds. Mass Defiance ended up winning the Advanced Class that year, and the friendly rivalry brought about conversations of building a trained 8-way team out of seasoned 4-way competitors, diverging from the tradition of treating 8-way as a pick-up event. The discussions centered on the idea that those “throw together” teams always seem to perform well, have lots of fun, and often medal. So, what would happen if those jumpers actually trained together?

Mass Defiance members Brian Stephens, Jim Rees, John Silva, and Ben Liston turned up the heat on their 4-way training over the next few years going from a 15.4 average in 2005 to a very impressive 19.3 average in 2007. This heavy training prevented the 8-way project from becoming a reality. But Jim Rees and Ron Hill had stayed in contact, each trying to figure a way to take this project from the drawing board idea into reality. In the meantime, Mass Defiance had several good years with the throw together 8-way team Lock it Up.

With John Kuczaj’s request to build a team, this seemed like a great opportunity to finally test the plan and put those discussions into action. Ron Hill quickly contacted the Mass Defiance members and Jim Rees, Ben Liston, and Brian Stephens quickly signed up. Scott Latinis was next to join the team. He had jumped with Lock it Up in 2006 and brings a wealth of 8-way experience to the table, which includes participation with the AZ team Vengeance. Scott Latinis also has several 8-way Open Class medals to his credit.

Scott Latinis took on the responsibility of putting together a training plan for the group. Rodney Cruce and Ron Hill had won silver medals together in 2006, with the pickup team Golden Nuggets. Rodney Cruce was very busy with his military duties, but he accepted the 6th slot. After a brief search, Ron Hill's former 2006 Thunder teammate Dave Burton was signed on, and Ari Perelman, former member of Sebastian Tempest, completed the lineup.

The team is planning 250 training jumps at Skydive Dallas and will be providing evening seminars to help support the team atmosphere at Skydive Dallas during the camps. In addition, the team's alternate will be available to coach new 4-way teams and help organize the local jumpers when needed. The 8-way project will also be holding free coaching days once a month where a member of the team will be available to coach any team or group that is interested.

The team's first training camps are scheduled for May 9th to 12th and May 14th to 17th. The plane will be going up and down all day, and the team would welcome company in the plane. Ron Hill and his team invite skydivers to come on out for the day, afterwork jumps, or even just for the sunset load.