posted May 17th, 2019 - Last time I gave the 4-way juniors some thought was in 2017. Well, that's not really true, as my daily work brings them to my desk and my thoughts regularly. And every single time I am so impressed and hopeful.

Did you know that the three highest scoring AA-class teams in the world last year were 4-way junior teams? 110 AA-class teams posted indoor scores in 2018 that are recorded in the NSL database and there are probably many more which were not posted on NSL leaderboards. The NSL 2018 indoor rankings of all AA Class teams include seniors and juniors both.

I am sure that everybody knows that the AA Class includes all 16 random formations and 16 of the 22 blocks. Only the six slot-switching blocks are not included. Oh, and before I forget, the NSL’s AA Class dive pool has been identical with the dive pool of the 4-way Junior category that FAI/IPC introduced a few years ago - good move, thanks for that.

I mention the dive pool, and especially the blocks, for a reason. We all know the piece flying of the blocks is probably the most physical element of 4-way training and competition, besides holding your mantis body position for 90 seconds, which is not really a natural thing for human beings.

TURNING POINTS - 4-way Juniors vs. Seniors

All right, back to the point that I am still preparing for, and the same topic: 4-way juniors. So, the first three teams in the AA world rankings are 4-way juniors: Aerokart Ak'demie (France), Air Devils (Canada), HF Junior Cubs (The Czech Republic). The first senior team is roughly 2.5 average points behind the juniors, which would be like 25 points in a 10-round competition. That's HUGE.

So, what are the 4-way juniors recently doing to be more challenged? They enter meets in the AAA Class competition and learn the complete dive pool before they have to. Now take that: the French 4-way juniors won the bronze medals in the AAA Class at their national indoor championships this year, ahead of 12 French senior teams.

Then the eager and strong 4-way juniors go back to the AA Class rules when it comes to the FAI/IPC events (world meets - world cups) which probably feels like a walk in the park then, after the much harder drills with AAA Class sequences. They meet only other 4-way juniors at the FAI/IPC events, where the participation in this category is still very low.

However, they have their additional AA and AAA training and competition fun at other meets and events, such as Indoor Cloud League and World Tunnel League, which are organized by other entities, such as NSL, and which have no limitations for the 4-way juniors.

---

World Tunnel League April 2019		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	9,P,6	14,M,17	16,D,Q,18	A,N,J,11	O,15,5	K,H,E,B,3	22,8,4	13,7,2	C,F,19,21	10,L,12	Total	Avg
1	HF Cubs	30	23	23	29	21	27	18	23	22	17	233	23.3
World Tunnel League March 2019		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	M,P,Q,G,21	1,11,K	17,16,H	N,L,D,6	13,18,3	E,J,14,5	2,F,12	15,C,B,19	22,10,8	9,20,A	Total	Avg
1	HF Cubs	30	21	23	29	19	24	15	20	15	29	225	22.5
World Tunnel League February 2019		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	18,G,14	6,9,F	A,3,15	N,16,1	7,M,5	17,C,E,13	Q,J,K,10	20,H,2	B,4,8	19,22,12	Total	Avg
1	HF Cubs	19	22	23	21	29	23	18	22	20	17	214	21.4
World Tunnel League January 2019		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	Q,E,F,18	3,9,11	D,K,21,16	14,G,M,17	O,L,B,7	5,15,6	P,A,12,20	C,13,1	10,8,N	22,J,H,4	Total	Avg
1	HF Cubs	29	19	20	19	31	17	17	18	16	21	207	20.7
World Tunnel League December 2018		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	3,B,5	15,J,7	9,16,18	17,C,H,M	14,Q,11	L,6,21	A,P,F,20	K,D,22,13	1,4,12	19,O,8	Total	Avg
1	HF Bad Cubs	22	26	20	33	19	22	29	21	17	18	227	22.7
World Tunnel League November 2018		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	H,16,P,21	11,D,7	N,18,9	K,C,B,Q,3	G,15,14	17,A,F,6	J,O,12,19	8,4,22	2,13,10	20,5,1	Total	Avg
1	HF Cubs	22	22	24	25	21	24	18	17	14	16	203	20.3

All AAA Class scores of the HF Cubs at World Tunnel League meets

---

Now I hope that I have prepared well enough for the point that I am trying to make. FAI/IPC came up with a new rule in January this year, which is related to the 4-way junior event at their sanctioned events. It made me wonder and I am curious what the general Formation Skydiving community thinks about it.

The new rule does not allow 4-way juniors to compete in more than one event - which is their own, of course, 4-way Junior. There is an exception for juniors who are 15 years of age and older; they can also sign up for the AAA/Open/Women categories if they want to. However, it is still only one event that they are allowed to attend.

This is different from the seniors, who can sign up for almost as many events as they want. There is no restriction that keeps a senior competitor from signing up for 4-way Open/4-way Women and 8-way competition at FAI/IPC events, and you can add 4-way VFS and artistic events to it too if you have enough money.

Gosh, I'm afraid I would have a heart attack from all that competition stress (I am 75 - just kidding, but there are no age limitations upward)... Well, of course not, as the physical requirements for my body are not really that hard. No doubt that it would be really hard to be really good in one of the events that I signed up for, but I would survive. I guess I would be pretty tired at the end of the day, but I would surely enjoy the multiple competition fun.

---

FAI Indoor World Meet 2019			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Junior		14,6		11,J,O		9,2		7,D,F		20,B,21		1,M,P		8,15		Q,H,18		Total	Avg
1	HF Cubs	CZ	25		29	-1	31		47		24		34	-1	20	-3	32	-2	242	30.3
2	Aerokart Ak'demie	FR	24	-1	30		29		38		28		31	-2	24		31		235	29.4
3	Russia FS Junior	RU	14	-5	23	-2	19	-4	29		15	-4	26	-1	17		20	-3	163	20.4
4	Skydive Recruitz	UK	10	-2	16		16		20		14	-1	12	-5	10	-4	15		113	14.1

---

The juniors can't do that, even though their dive pool and competition draw is a different one compared to the AAA Class events (4-way open/4-way women).

There is even a real-life example for the consequences of this new rule. Two Czech 4-way junior girls (Adela Vesela, Sabina Cioleková - HF Cubs) - the reigning 4-way junior bronze medalists with one of the three aforementioned AA teams on the top of the NSL world rankings of 2018 - were also planning to compete in 4-way Women with the HF Chicks at the FAI Indoor World Meet 2019. Czech 4-way Godfather Jan Klapka had approved, planned and supported the double duties before the rule change in January.

The two young ladies are very familiar with the AAA dive pool, as their own junior team, the HF Cubs, is also one of the examples for junior teams stepping up into AAA competition to be more challenged. However, Jan Klapka had to withdraw the senior team in 4-way Women, HF Chicks, from the indoor world meet, as team members Adela Vesela and Sabina Cioleková could compete only in one event.

So, I began to wonder what the reasoning was behind the rule change and the new restriction and I am hoping to get some help from the audience. I was not present at the FAI/IPC meeting when the rule change was discussed and I could not find any explanations in the minutes of the FAI/IPC meeting where the new rule was created. Interestingly enough, the minutes did not even include the one-event-only rule change for juniors, which then appeared in the complete set of rules for 2019.

---

AAA Class performances of the HF Cubs at World Tunnel League meets

---

Anyhow, I heard from participants at the meeting that the physical shape of the juniors could be behind that restriction, as a kind of protective measure. In other words: don't fly too much, it may hurt you. I am speculating now, as I could not find or get better official information.

However, I was wondering even more after I listened to the input. I understand the caution but I don't understand the logic. I know that even 4-way juniors fly more than only 10 rounds (10 flying minutes) when they train and I also know that they can handle and enjoy flying much more in one day. In fact, FAI/IPC events are usually stretched out over several days and you perform only a few rounds per day. There is plenty of time to rest, for both juniors and seniors.

But then I was thinking of other sports, which made me wonder even more how much physical stress kids and teenagers can handle. Think of gymnastics, track & field, soccer/futbol, and many other sports where juniors train and compete in. I feel that flying in a wind tunnel is nothing compared to other sports when it comes to physical challenges and I believe that our 4-way juniors train with a pretty casual intensity compared to other sports.

I don't know if this was really the reason for the category restriction and I hope to hear about it. It is too late anyway, as the HF Chicks will stay at home, and Adela Vesela and Sabina Cioleková will compete only in 4-way Junior at the indoor world meet. Good luck, young ladies, and see you back on the AAA leaderboard soon with the HF Chicks...

P.S.: The HF Cubs went on to win the gold medals at the FAI Indoor World Meet, and they are the new 4-way Junior world champions.