posted Dec 28th, 2014 - That was the headline of the news update on 24 December 2000.

The turning time of the year is once again an opportunity for the Sun Path Products NSL News to go back to a time when SKYLEAGUE.COM was in the earliest stages of online journalism and news updates. In fact, the website was mostly a tool to post the meet scores of the NSL Network, which was consistently growing.

The events generated a lot of stories and other meet information at the same time, which eventually created the foundation for the journalistic part of the National Skydiving League. This news update covered the situation that Arizona Airspeed was in after winning the USPA Nationals 2000 in 4-way and in 8-way.

WM 1999	8-way	Rd.1	Rd.2	Rd.3	Rd.4	Rd.5	Rd.6	Rd.7	Rd.8	Rd.9	Rd.10	Total	Avg
1	United States	22	25	20	20	16	22	25	19	21	21	211	21.1
2	Russia	20	23	20	23	14	19	26	19	22	23	209	20.9
3	France	15	21	22	23	13	21	26	19	20	20	200	20.0
4	Australia	15	18	12	10	12	16	20	14	14	16	147	14.7
5	Japan	12	12	11	11	11	12	14	13	10	13	119	11.9
6	Germany	13	13	12	12	9	10	15	10	11	10	115	11.5

It took a while until the final decision was made. It is definite now: The same Airspeed 8-way team squad that won the World Championship 1999 will represent the United States next year in Spain. As they did for for the USPA Nationals 2000, Dan BC, Jack Jefferies and Gary Beyer will return to competition from their retirement homes. Mark Kirkby, Kirk Verner, John Eagle, Alan Metni and Craig Girard will complete the Airspeed 8-way lineup for the World Championship 2001 in Spain.

As difficult as it was to come to this decision, it will not become much easier from here on for the defending 8-way world champions. Pressure and responsibility will be huge. After the experiences of the last world meet in Australia, Airspeed did not feel like taking on once again the challenge of winning both events.

The double duties in Australia were successful in 8-way. However, the 4-way Excalibur went back to France. Airspeed Vertical, the new Airspeed 4-way team and USPA champion of 2000 (Craig Girard, Mark Kirkby, John Eagle, Neal Houston, with Mark Steinbaugh on camera) made it very clear that their priority will be to bring the gold medals in 4-way back to the USA in 2001.

WM 1999	4-way	Rd.1	Rd.2	Rd.3	Rd.4	Rd.5	Rd.6	Rd.7	Rd.8	Rd.9	Rd.10	Total	Avg
1	France	23	23	18	19	18	24	21	21	21	20	208	20.8
2	United States	23	24	19	16	17	26	19	19	20	19	202	20.2
3	Norway	21	23	16	17	16	23	20	19	20	16	191	19.1
4	Great Britain	21	23	16	17	17	23	18	17	20	18	190	19.0
5	Russia	22	20	13	16	16	17	18	17	18	15	172	17.2
6	Australia	20	21	15	15	14	19	17	17	15	16	169	16.9
7	Germany	18	18	13	13	14	18	15	14	16	16	155	15.5

Airspeed Vertical first had no desire to do 8-way at the same time. Dan BC, Jack Jefferies and Gary Beyer had already retired from competition right after the world meet in 1999. The trouble began when they agreed to come back for the USPA Nationals 2000. Airspeed's 8-way team saw a chance to win the 8-way gold medals without any training when the Golden Knights did not seem to be happy with their progression prior to the 2000 Nationals.

After beating the Knights in Perris, Airspeed did not expect the Army team to completely withdraw from the 8-way event. They thought that the Knights may represent the USA in Spain - even after losing the USPA Nationals.

Surprisingly, this strategy did not work out. The Golden Knights lost the event with honor and all consequences. The new leadership of the Golden Knights did not like the idea of being the second best team and still represent the USA at the world meet. They would rather withdraw.

The basic comment from the Golden Knights headquarters was that Airspeed should have known better. If Airspeed decided to compete at the USPA Nationals, they knew that they would have the responsibility to send their team to the world meet.

USPA 2000	8-way	Rd.1	Rd.2	Rd.3	Rd.4	Rd.5	Rd.6	Rd.7	Rd.8	Rd.9	Rd.10	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	22	20	15	23	18	16	23	15	22	23	197	19.7
2	Golden Knights	22	19	17	23	19	13	22	18	21	19	193	19.3

When the Golden Knights made their decision very clear by forming two 4-way teams for the next years, Airspeed had to look for other options. For a while, the idea was to have Airspeed Vertical focusing on 4-way and Airspeed Zulu be the base for a newly formed 8-way team.

However, recruiting the other four people for the 8-way lineup proved to be difficult. DeLand PD Blue was the number one choice. The world class 4-way team may have been a great option for launching the 8-way training on a very high level. PD Blue though decided against this 8-way opportunity.

Still without a solution, time pressure began to rise for Airspeed. The world meet in 2001 was scheduled for June. A completely new Airspeed 8-way team would have only six months to get ready for a huge challenge at the world meet.

Not only that this team would have the responsibility to defend the 8-way title that has never been won by any other country in the history of Formation Skydiving. The new team would also have to face the Russian challenge once again. Even though Russia did not look like they were a serious threat for Airspeed at the World Cup 2000 in Eloy, there is a great chance that this will be different in June 2001.

Airspeed's 8-way lineup will be very limited with their training resources since Airspeed Vertical will still focus on 4-way, and the Russian 8-way team will continue to train hard in the meantime. At the last world meet in Australia, Russia finished only two single points behind Airspeed with a 20.9 average. The potential for a similar performance will be there again, even though Russia scored only 16.0 average at this year's World Cup.

Looking at the situation from all different angles for a while, Airspeed finally decided to put the money on the veteran crew. Airspeed put together the most experienced group of competitors in the history of skydiving to guarantee the best chances and using their incredible resources of experiences and skills.

Psychological factors may have been involved in the decision, as well. A completely new Airspeed 8-way team may encourage and motivate the Russian team from their perspective, even if a new Airspeed 8-way team would be the greatest talent pool in the world and train a lot.

The same Airspeed 8-way lineup of 1999 beat the Russians already in 1999. There would be more respect on the Russian side. However, either way, the 8-way Excalibur in US possession will be challenged and threatened more than ever before in history. There is a good chance that things may be reversed in Spain 2001 compared to Australia 1999.

Airspeed Vertical may win the gold medal in 4-way, and Airspeed's 8-way team may lose the 8-way competition for the first time. However, there is just the same potential and possibility that Airspeed might win both events for the first time in the history of Formation Skydiving competition. We are taking chances once again, no risk - no fun? Good luck in six months...

Arizona Airspeed Vertical won the 4-way gold medals in 2001, while Russia won the 8-way gold...