posted Jul 7th, 2014 - The leaderboard of last weekend's international competition between teams in the Netherlands and Canada will require a few adjustments, due to the different numbers of rounds. However, only the A Class leaderboard of the Dutch Nationals 2014 alone is interesting enough after an unofficial adjustment.

The Sun Path Products NSL News mentioned yesterday that the three 0-pointers for Shinobi in the last three rounds were not caused by exit funnels, video malfunctions or missing the jump plane. Shinobi accepted the 0-pointers as the better choice than dropping completely off the leaderboard.

However, the last three rounds were judged, and the scores with the two substitutes (Johan Wiltink, Ties Bos) change the leaderboard into a much nicer picture for Shinobi. In fact, the unofficial scores put all A Class teams back in the exact ranking order of the Tomscat Trophy 2014. Shinobi has now completely caught up with Inside-Out after a 1-point deficit in June.

Dutch Nationals 2014		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	A Class	J,9	8,L	P,O,F	D,19	B,6	7,N	C,M,21	Q,G,A	2,E	4,K	Total	Avg
1	4igami	12	4	17	8	8	8	6	10	10	7	90	9.0
2	Maverick	5	2	12	5	6	6	6	9	6	5	62	6.2
3	Inside-Out	4	4	11	5	8	6	8	4	2	6	58	5.8
3	Shinobi	4	4	9	4	6	7	4	8	7	5	58	5.8
4	Winging It	4	5	6	5	7	5	7	6	5	2	52	5.2

Shinobi actually consists of Freek Boland (Center Outside), Ramon Verbruggen (Tail), Rutger van den Engel (Point), Gerrold Nollen (Center Inside) and videographer Deyan Bakardzhiev.

M4trix and M8trix member Leander van Schriek is coaching the A Class team.

It became complicated for Shinobi at the Dutch Nationals last week when Point Rutger van den Engel fell ill after only four jumps.

The team members found Johan Wiltink as a substitute for Round 5 and the last jump of the first day.

On the second day, for Rounds 6 - 10, Shinobi was also missing Tail Ramon Verbruggen.

However, the team was prepared for this substitution, and former Mach 4 member Ties Bos was ready to fill the open slot. Rutger van den Engel was also back in action, and everything was fine.

The trouble was back when Rutger van den Engel had to sit out again after Round 7. Johan Wiltink had to come back for the last three rounds, and Shinobi was over the official limit with the second substitute.

The team was allowed to complete the competition with the extended lineup and then given the choice at the end of the meet either to withdraw or accept 0-pointers for the last three rounds. Shinobi accepted no scoring points and remained on the official leaderboard in last place.

Shinobi, which is a synonym for the Japanese ninja, started in the Dutch Rookie Class competition of 2012 with Freek Boland, Gerrold Nollen, Rutger van den Engel, and Roeland Vermeulen in the Tail slot. Ramon Verbruggen became the new Tail in 2013, and Shinobi moved up into the A Class.

Shinobi competed at the Tomscat Trophy, the Dutch Nationals, the ESL Championship and the ISR Grand Prix in 2013 and came back for the team's second year in the A Class at the Tomscat Trophy 2014.

The situation was actually quite similar at the first meet this year, when Point Rutger van den Engel had to sit out after the first five rounds, as well. Coach Leander van Schriek stepped in at that time.

The meet schedule for 2014 is the same as last year, while Shinobi also competed at the national championships last week. The ESL Championship 2014 will take place on Shinobi's home turf in Teuge, and the team will try to contribute to the Dutch account in the A Class. No Dutch A Class or Rookie Class team collected any points for the Netherlands last year, and Belgium won...