posted Aug 4th, 2015 - It was not too long ago that the Sun Path Products NSL News celebrated a great weekend of the Rookie Class teams, as the story on July 24th explained. It was a combination of teams from the Czech Republic, United Kingdom and Midwest Skydiving League who created a leaderboard with 15 teams.

The surge of new 4-way teams and competitors was confirmed again last weekend when the next 15 different Rookie Class teams competed, this time most of them in the USA. The Southern Skydiving League alone added seven teams to the leaderboard at Skydive Alabama. The other eight Rookie Class teams competed in Northern (4) and Southern (2) California and in Ireland (2).

The SSL Rookie Class teams celebrated their last meet of the 2015 season in a special way - by taking the Top 4 spots on the leaderboard after the four rounds that all teams except one completed.

August 1st, 2015				Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Total	Avg
Rank	Rookie			O,J,A	D,K,F	B,H,P	L,M,A	N,Q,D	C,G,E	Total	Avg
1	SA Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies	US	SSL	6	10	9	9	6	8	(34)	8.0
2	SDA Super Friends	US	SSL	2	5	9	8	2	7	(24)	5.5
3	Instructions Provided by Will	US	SSL	4	4	5	6	2	1	(19)	3.7
4	Get a Grip	US	SSL	4	3	6	4	2	2	(17)	3.5
5	Team Karl	US	NCSL	5	2	4	3	-	-	(14)	3.5
6	Iron Curtain	US	SSL	1	3	6	3	1	2	(13)	2.7
7	Fourplay with Don	US	SSL	3	1	4	3	3	5	(11)	3.2
7	Icarus 4	IE	INT	2	1	5	3	-	-	(11)	2.8
9	Team Jerry	US	NCSL	4	1	2	3	-	-	(10)	2.5
10	4nicate	IE	INT	1	3	4	0	-	-	(8)	2.0
11	Grip This	US	SSL	0	0	2	2	0	3	(4)	1.2
12	Team Sergei	US	NCSL	1	1	1	0	-	-	(3)	0.8
13	Team John	US	NCSL	1	0	1	0	-	-	(2)	0.5
13	Team 102	US	SCSL	0	0	2	0	-	-	(2)	0.5
15	Team 101	US	SCSL	1	0	-	-	-	-	(1)	0.5

SSL Director Brandy Verhalen completed all scheduled six rounds at Skydive Alabama by starting the day with a 6:45 take-off and beautiful weather all day: "Yes, indeed the plane was taxiing away at 6:45!" Brandy Verhalen launched the Southern Skydiving League last year and remembered how it all began:

"For those of you who don't know how the SSL started, there was once upon a time a weathered out Christmas party at Skydive Alabama (Dec. 2013). The plan was to have a 4-way day to get people interested and organized into FS. Well, we ended up doing some form of creeper competition and having a seminar series led by Joseph (Wood). At some point during all of this he suggests a regional league and throws me under the bus.. ahem. err.. nominates me."

Joseph Wood is still helping her as a meet judge, and Brandy Verhalen looked back at her first two years: "We have now completed Season 2 of the SSL! Thanks for pushing me, motivating me, throwing me under the bus, mentoring me, having confidence in me, and befriending me. I have learned so much the past two years in getting the SSL going - from such a different angle than just a jumper- never would I have thought I'd be doing this, but it is amazing to watch people grow, see the enthusiasm when someone figures out a new exit, turns points, or simply has a great time jumping. Thank you, Joseph Wood for everything. There are also about 5000000 other people that guide me, listen to my sleep deprived babbling, cheer me/the league on, and are just plain awesome - but without this guy, there'd be no SSL."

Home team Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies and Skydive Atlanta’s Super Friends, with Platinum's Nicole Cronin filling the Outside Center slot, came back with their lineups at the previous SSL meets this year. The five pickup teams each had their leader: Don Hurd for Fourplay, Bill Prout for Grip This, Jeff Nicholson for Iron Curtain, Will Miller and Ben Ford for Instructions Provided, Melissa Abner and Belynda Adams for the all-female Get a Grip lineup.

The two SSL AA Class teams also had their last showdown of the 2015 season. Platinum had won the first two meets and competed with the same lineup, while Southern Mix brought a joker to the last meet. Paraclete XP member John D'Annunzio visited and drove the team to a new 2015 record average in the Outside Center slot.

John D'Annunzio has been working with the team, and they convinced him to join the active lineup at the last meet. It was a winning move at Skydive Alabama and brought the 2nd place on last weekend's AA Class leaderboard.

August 1st, 2015				Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Total	Avg
Rank	AA Class			2,14	D,1,K	B,H,4	18,L,M	13,N,Q	C,G,E,7	Total	Avg
1	Team Name	US	NCSL	7	11	13	7	10	14	62	10.3
2	CSC Southern Mix	US	SSL	8	11	11	9	7	12	58	9.7
3	Counterpoint FX	US	NCSL	5	10	13	9	8	12	57	9.5
4	SA Platinum	US	SSL	5	5	9	8	6	11	44	7.3
5	Airscrewz	US	SCSL	4	8	7	6	5	6	36	6.0
6	Ballista	IE	INT	5	5	8	4	5	7	34	5.7

Brandy Verhalen said that there were also celebratory jumps over the weekend. Get a Grip member Marion Hanks made her 100th jump, and Grip This member Jason Adams his 200th. Iron Curtain member Jeff Nicholson completed 96 hours of freefall time with his next jump after the competition.

The group of SSL teams and competitors then nominated Chris Rhoden (Instructions) as the SSL Rookie of the Year, honoring his progress from SSL Meet 1 to SSL Meet 3. Brandy Verhalen added that James Phillips (Grip This) made his 50th jump during the competition, and that Jackie Sylvester (Fourplay) has less than 70 jumps to date.

Home team Platinum provided dinner on Friday night, and Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies sold lunch and dinner on Saturday as a fundraiser to help get them to the NSL Championship 2015. Brandy Verhalen said that FBRD and another SSL team are making plans for the November event in DeLand.

Last and not least, the SSL teams and competitors also honored their league director's great efforts at the end of the day. The group presented a card signed by all teams, and the envelope also included a voluntary cash donation as a sign of appreciation for the 2015 season.

However, Brandy Verhalen said that the words of support from everyone mean much more to her than anything else, and she loves hearing the stories of how the SSL and her efforts have impacted on their skydiving careers.

The SSL Director was also rewarded in another special way. John D'Annunzio, Joseph Wood and Glenn Lambert invited her for a 4-way jump on Friday evening: "Yup, everyone was jealous of me..." Two 8-way jumps followed after the competition on Saturday, and she made eight jumps on the weekend, everything from AFF and a happy student to 4-way and 12-way: "Good gosh - skydiving and the people are awesome..."