posted Jul 10th, 2014 - Jan Klapka's Czech Republic Skydiving League group at the Skydive Arena in Prague was the 4th team that joined the Indoor Cloud League in June 2013 for the first time. It took Jan Klapka a few months to gain some momentum, and he had a very competitive group of teams together at the end of the year.

His additional monthly indoor meets over ten rounds throughout the winter helped the Czech teams and competitors even more to build skills and experiences. The Czech group was eventually so strong that the Skydive Arena won the first three Indoor Cloud League months of the 2014 season (January - March) consecutively.

The distance to the group in 2nd place (iFLY Orlando) was 28 points with a new record total (175 - 147) in March 2014. It seemed like the Czech teams would keep adding to the distance month by month. However, things changed in April, and the Skydive Arena ended up with 2nd and 3rd places. What happened?

June 2014		AAA Class	AA Class	A Class	Rookie AAA	Rookie AA	Rookie A	Total
Rank	Teams	D,C,15,17	D,C,Q,18	D,C,7	D,C,Q	M,D,C	M,D	Total
2	Skydive Arena (CZ)	20	24	25	16	18	15	118
May 2014		AAA Class	AA Class	A Class	Rookie AAA	Rookie AA	Rookie A	Total
Rank	Teams	O,E,14,3	O,E,N,14	O,E,9	O,E,N	M,O,E	M,O	Total
2	Skydive Arena (CZ)	20	26	31	20	15	18	130
April 2014		AAA Class	AA Class	A Class	Rookie AAA	Rookie AA	Rookie A	Total
Rank	Teams	P,B,16,18	P,B,L,11	P,B,6	P,B,L	M,P,B	M,P	Total
3	Skydive Arena (CZ)	18	22	26	20	13	-	99
March 2014		AAA Class	AA Class	A Class	Rookie AAA	Rookie AA	Rookie A	Total
Rank	Teams	K,F,7,5	K,F,E,15	K,F,7	K,F,E	M,K,F	M,K	Total
1	Skydive Arena (CZ)	27	30	26	32	42	18	175
February 2014		AAA Class	AA Class	A Class	Rookie AAA	Rookie AA	Rookie A	Total
Rank	Teams	A,H,9,11	A,H,C,9	A,H,9	A,H,C	M,A,H	M,A	Total
1	Skydive Arena (CZ)	26	33	23	30	29	12	153
January 2014		AAA Class	AA Class	A Class	Rookie AAA	Rookie AA	Rookie A	Total
Rank	Teams	J,D,15,6	J,D,Q,6	J,D,6	J,D,Q	M,J,D	M,J	Total
1	Skydive Arena (CZ)	21	26	15	21	19	27	129

Jan Klapka has been facing a good problem to have. His participants in the Indoor Cloud League events are mostly teams who train and compete with the same lineups at the indoor and outdoor meets in the Czech Republic. In fact, three teams (Bad Boys, Fire Coopers, HF Chicks) also competed and impressed at the World Challenge 2014.

The consistency of the Czech teams allows a faster progression, and they reach the limitations for the three Rookie Class categories and the A Class faster than other ICL groups with changing lineups. ICL teams and competitors may score 25 points or higher for a sequence only two times and then have to move up.

The Sun Path Path Products NSL News reported one of the recent examples on 16 May 2014 when the HF Chicks, Rookie Class winner in Bedford, had reached their limitations in four categories and were eligible for only AAA and AA Class sequences any longer.

Impact and Fire Coopers are two more Czech teams who have reached the category limitations. This situation has lowered the Czech scores in the categories for the beginners in the sport, while the Czech teams keep improving their skills and performance level.

Jan Klapka's group also became stronger in the traditional NSL categories (AAA - AA - A - Rookie) when the national team, Bad Boyz, picked up the training efforts to prepare for the World Championship of Formation Skydiving on home turf this year. It's the first world meet for the Bad Boys.

However, the Czech national team was flying with real skydiving gear in the Skydive Arena chamber last month, which is much more challenging compared to pure body-flying. The AAA and AA Class scores were still impressive but allowed other groups to keep closer to the Czech top performers. It's time now for the Czech rookies to step up in the lower ICL categories and recruit new flyers in the Skydive Arena in Prague...