posted Feb 20th, 2019 - Skydiving Magazine's founder Mike Truffer created the SKYDIVER OF THE YEAR award many years before he discontinued editing the very popular magazine and before dying in a skydiving accident in 2013. He had rewarded skydivers with the trophy who contributed in special ways to the sport.

His Skydiving Magazine partner Sue Clifton decided in 2015 to donate the remaining SKYDIVER OF THE YEAR trophies to the National Skydiving League. She did not have any requirements for the future use of the awards. The NSL decided to follow Mike Truffer's and Sue Clifton's tradition and dedicated the first SKYDIVER OF THE YEAR 2014 award to Lori Connor, followed by Jan Klapka in 2015.

The list of rewarded skydivers includes many Formation Skydiving competitors and begins with Patrick de Gayardon in 1991. He was famous for his skysurfing skills and explorations, while he was also aiming at the top of the world with French 4-way and 8-way teams. A year later, Guy Manos, 4-way world champion of 1985 with the DeLand Air Bears and successful movie maker ("Dropzone") received the next trophy.

Andy Peckett from Great Britain used his Formation Skydiving skills to rescue an unconscious skydiver in freefall and was the SKYDIVER OF THE YEAR in 1993, followed by British skydiving legend Tony Uragallo in 1994, a multiple national 4-way and 8-way champion.

USPA Nationals 2005		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Advanced	2,A,19	F,20,D,9	C,21,N,11	15,M,8	4,6,P	5,1,H	22,7,12	3,K,16	E,17,14	13,18,J	Total	Avg
1	Mass Defiance	19	19	16	15	15	15	12	14	15	14	154	15.4
2	Elsinore Gravity	16	20	11	13	15	15	12	13	14	13	142	14.2
3	Perris Katalyst	14	16	14	14	12	13	9	13	11	12	128	12.8
4	Elsinore GT	13	16	11	13	13	13	9	12	13	10	123	12.3
5	Inviscid	14	15	12	13	10	14	10	9	12	13	122	12.2
6	Y-Train	10	16	8	11	12	12	12	13	13	12	119	11.9
6	Perris Storm	15	15	11	11	10	13	10	12	11	11	119	11.9
8	Cross Keys Vision	13	15	11	11	13	8	10	11	10	10	112	11.2
9	Golden Knights SA	13	14	9	10	10	10	10	10	7	9	102	10.2
10	Perris CNC	13	14	10	10	10	7	8	9	12	7	100	10.0
10	AZ Seals TNT	12	12	9	11	10	8	8	10	11	9	100	10.0
12	Weekend of Fun	11	10	10	9	10	11	8	10	11	8	98	9.8
13	Perris Helion	11	13	10	11	10	10	7	6	10	9	97	9.7
14	Perris Ice	11	8	10	11	9	9	9	9	11	8	95	9.5
15	LMP	11	14	8	11	11	11	11	11	0	0	88	8.8
16	Perris Censored	9	11	7	9	8	8	8	8	7	8	83	8.3
17	Spaceland's Method	10	12	8	7	8	7	6	7	9	5	79	7.9
17	Perris KII	10	7	9	8	8	6	6	9	9	7	79	7.9
19	Mass Confusion	6	6	6	0	5	0	5	4	5	6	43	4.3

The NSL News will follow up with more of the award winners of the past after now introducing the new SKYDIVER OF THE YEAR 2018, Ben Liston.

He is mostly known in the Unites States as one of the original Mass Defiance members, a 4-way team from New England who started their team project in 2004. Mass Defiance won USPA's Advanced Class gold medals in 2005, and the winning average of 15.4 became a new U.S. standard for "amateur teams".

However, a great team performance at a certain time in history would not be enough to qualify for the SKYDIVER OF THE YEAR award with its special purpose.

What made Mass Defiance special is the fact that the original team members (Ben Liston, Jim Rees, Brian Stephens, John Silva, videographer Steve Feldman) are still active in the sport, more than 15 years after competing at their first USPA Nationals.

In fact, original members Ben Liston and Brian Stephens finished with a 20.3 average for Mass Defiance in 4th place at the USPA Nationals 2018. John Silva competed with his original team mates at the SkyVenture New Hampshire Indoor Championship in January, where Jim Rees was judging. He joins the active lineup whenever he is not sitting in the judging room.

USPA Nationals 2018			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		8,B,6	P,3,C,M	1,18,Q	22,E,16	11,17,H	L,12,13	7,A,20	19,14,9	J,5,4	G,15,10	Total	Avg
1	XP8	US	17	20	19	17	14	13	17	14	21	17	169	16.9
2	Arizona Airspeedish	US	13	22	19	18	15	15	15	13	16	19	165	16.5
3	Qatar Falcons	QA	16	21	18	14	15	15	16	13	17	16	161	16.1
4	Amphibious Attack Tigers	US	12	14	13	14	10	9	10	9	14	13	118	11.8
5	French Monsters	US	10	9	10	10	9	10	5	10	10	11	94	9.4
6	Blocksmiths XP	US	10	10	10	6	6	6	8	7	10	7	80	8.0

Meet Director Ben Liston at SkyVenture New Hampshire - Instructional 4-way video by Ben Liston

The whole team probably deserves the SKYDIVER OF THE YEAR award, and it would not be the first time. Mike Truffer and Sue Clifton rewarded the complete original Arizona Airspeed lineup with the special honor in 1998.

Mass Defiance became the perfect example for a team that was not only pursuing the USPA medals. All team members were and are so passionate about Formation Skydiving competition that they continued for 15 years without a serious chance to win more relevant medals and titles. Mass Defiance is still one of the best "amateur teams" in the world.

Ben Liston and Jim Rees put even more into the sport. Jim Rees has become one of the best and most experienced Formation Skydiving judges in the history of the sport, while Ben Liston passionately encourages and inspires skydivers to join Formation Skydiving competition. The indoor competition at SkyVenture New Hampshire is his signature event as a happy 4-way party on a high performance level, and he is helping teams with coaching and advice wherever he can.

He already received a highly valuable reward last year when he was selected for Arizona Airspeed's 8-way lineup at the USPA Nationals, which meant possibly more to him than the SKYDIVER OF THE YEAR trophy. However, the NSL award honors his achievements and contributions next to the athletic skills. It was still a close call between him and Jim Rees...