posted May 24th, 2017 - The Sun Path Products NSL News story on 9 May 2017 covered the 2017 season opener of the Northern California Skydiving League and explained a new format that NCSL Director Lori Connor applies this year.

The same story also mentioned that the Outdoor Cloud League is now officially in its test phase, and the experimental region is Northern California, as well.

The concept of the Outdoor Cloud League is based on the experiences of the traditional National Skydiving League outdoor network and the successful introduction of the Indoor Cloud League. The Outdoor Cloud League is a combination of both programs with the same goal, the introduction of 4-way training and competition on the grass roots level.

NSL events have been limited to the four traditional NSL competition categories (AAA - AA - A - Rookie) in the past, while the Indoor Cloud League has also offered two additional Rookie Class categories (RR - R) for the beginners in the sport. The Outdoor Cloud League has now added the same two Rookie Class categories to the leaderboard, which is also open for new scores and videos throughout the whole month. The two additional outdoor categories (RR - R) have different rules for the start of the working time, which match the Indoor Cloud League.

Outdoor Cloud League 2017		AAA	AA	A	RRR	RR	R	Total
Rank	OCL May		J,21,9		P,E,L	M,K,N	M,J	Total
1	SkyDance SkyDiving	-	10	-	5	4	2	21
2	Skydive California	-	10	-	3	5	-	18

The first experiences with activities of the new Outdoor Cloud League program in Northern California are promising. The first competition in the month of May has generated scores, videos and stories.

SkyDance SkyDiving and Skydive California recently added new scores and videos to the OCL leaderboard in the Rookie Class categories. Earlier May scores were added by both drop zones due to their hosting the NCSL's first outdoor meet this year, as the draw of the 4th round was identical with the Outdoor Cloud League sequences.

SkyDance has now added additional six points to the May total with scores in R and RR, holding its lead by three points over of Skydive California.

SkyDance's RR Class team was a familiar lineup. Player coach Lori Connor flies regularly with Kristen Breaux and Justin Breaux at the NCSL Tunnel Kicker events, where they collect Indoor Cloud League points for iFLY Sacramento. They had their former Counterpoint FX team mate Abbie Crews in the lineup for the RR Class sequence.

NCSL 2017 - May Meet		1	2	3	4	5	6	Total	Avg
Rank	AA Class	7,19	G,O,D,F	Q,13,14	J,21,9	K,C,1	20,E,A	Total	Avg
1	DeLoreans	9	17	7	10	10	9	62	10.3
2	Turn & Burn	7	11	4	10	-	-	32	8.0
Rank	A Class	7,19	G,O,D	Q,F,21	K,N,6	H,C,9	E.A.J	Total	Avg
1	Sparkle	5	5	-	-	-	-	10	5.0
Rank	Rookie	K,N,B	G,O,D	Q,F,M	P,E,L	H,C,K	E,A,J	Total	Avg
1	8-Armed Skytapus	4	3	4	5	-	-	16	4.0
2	No Belly Stars	3	4	6	-	-	-	13	4.3
3	Goldi-Docks and the Bear	3	3	0	1	-	-	7	1.8
4	Airstream	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

The Breaux RR outdoor team scored four points for SkyDance after performing the same sequence three times in freefall. The best round actually generated an 8-pointer, which was unfortunately not judgeable without an external videographer. They tried two more times and finished with four points at each jump. However, they were happy to add their four points to the OCL leaderboard.

The Breaux RR outdoor team could take advantage of the special working time rules for the two new categories. With the standard 4-way rules, they would have scored only one point if the working time had started from exit.

NCSL Director Lori Connor evaluated all of the NCSL meets since 2014 before beginning with the Outdoor Cloud League test phase, and there have been 38 Rookie Class scores with 0-pointers. She believes that many 4-way rookies have unfortunately lost interest in 4-way competition due to the lack of scoring success at meets: "Most of the Rookie Class teams are pick-up lineups who have not practiced exits together, and of course the rookie teams' dynamics may include varying experience levels."

She said that here is another interesting fact with the special RR/R working time rules. The RR video submission of the team shows that the Breaux team had only 11 seconds of working time due to the team's negotiated break-off at 5,500 ft. for a canopy check by one of the team members.

iFLY Sacramento - May 12+	AAA	AA	A	RRR	RR	R	Total
Teams	K,21,N,5	J,21,9	K,N,6	P,E,L	M,K,N	M,J	Total
Matt Stephens, Lori Connor, Volker Haag, Will Harris	16(-1)	19(-2)	-	-	-	-	35
May 5th	16(-1)	19(-2)	-	-	-	-	35
Russ Hebert, John Verley, Ron Ashcraft, Lori Connor	-	-	11	-	-	-	11
Kristen Breaux, Justin Breaux, Calli Waltrip, Lori Connor	-	-	-	16	-	-	16
Sona Santos-Linsenbach, Valerie Armstrong, Scott Rainey, John Verley	-	-	-	11	13	-	-
Nick Maxwell, Keith Clayton, Matt Stephens, Nick Armstrong	-	-	-	-	25	39(-1)	64
Reed Lawson, Matthew Lawson, Matt Stephens, Nick Armstrong	-	-	-	-	24	31	-
May 18th	-	-	11	16	25	39(-1)	91
iFLY Sacramento's Best of May	16(-1)	19(-2)	11	16	25	39(-1)	126

Lori Connor expects to see "less than full 35-seconds of working times" due to the rookie teams respecting their negotiated higher break-offs, compared to standard 4-way working time rules where the full 35-seconds of working time begins with the exit.

John Verley's player coach team at SkyDance performed the R Class sequence (M,J) and added two more points to SkyDance's May total. Again, the 35-second working time rule provided the team an opportunity to score points after an unsuccessful exit. The team worked diligently to come back together and eventually scored.

Paul Gilbert was filming both teams at SkyDance, and Lori Connor also emphasized once again the importance of the team videographer: "The Breaux team was not able to add their 8-pointer to the leaderboard, due to the lack of an external camera. The value of having a team mate capture your points on video is priceless..."

Lori Connor also visited Skydive California last Sunday to score for the other OCL host with two RR and RRR teams and added 8 points to the May leaderboard. Skydive California did not have a RRR Class score coming out of the May 6th meet due to weather holds.

Indoor Cloud League 2017			Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
Flying Chamber: 12+ Feet
1	iFLY SF Bay	US	154	107	119	89	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	469
2	iFLY Sacramento	US	139	120	86	102	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	447
3	SkyVenture Montreal	CA	69	86	98	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	253
4	iFLY Orlando	US	114	74	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	188
5	iFLY Tampa	US	-	-	-	89	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	89
6	iFLY Gold Coast	AU	-	-	34	31	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	65

The lineup for Skydive California's RRR Class team with Lori Connor consisted of Marcel Pomerleau, Laura Reed, Elan I. Moyal and Bret Cooke on camera, and they posted a 3-pointer with the standard exit rules for the working time. Lori Connor said that the participants learn that the importance of practicing 4-way exits becomes imperative in being able to score points in standard 4-way.

Skydive California's RR Class team had Lori Connor, Allison Crisler, Laura Reed, Audrey Rose and videographer Bret Cooke in the lineup. This team was able to score a 5-pointer within working time from the break of the first formation, while the standard exit rules would have generated only a 2-pointer.

Lori Connor is now hoping that the new OCL rules make learning 4-way more fun and give the 4-way rookies early success to keep them interested in learning more about 4-way competition and then attend the NCSL meets, as well.

The NCSL hosts have one longer weekend coming to add scores and videos before the first Outdoor Cloud League leaderboard will be closed at the end of May. Lori Connor will be at SkyDance SkyDiving this Sunday (May 28th) organizing 4-way teams and hopefully add an A Class score for the host's OCL account. Skydive California has the same long weekend around the corner...