posted Mar 30th, 2020 - NSL Live Talk has been a regular part of SKYLEAGUE.COM coverage for a long time. It began as soon as the website was launched in its current form. In fact, interviews with teams, competitors, VIPs and officials in the sport were recorded even much earlier. They were not archived as video files at the beginning and appeared in writing on the website and in print media.

The NSL News will soon publish some of these earliest interviews. The current corona virus situation and the expected delay of new indoor and outdoor events will offer the opportunity to go back in Formation Skydiving history and add relevant content to the NSL News pages.

The latest update from the NSL News archives was posted on 23 December 2019, and it covered a few stories that were published in December 1998. The corona virus pandemic was not a topic in December last year. The review and publishing of archived stories was squeezed into the normal daily operation of the NSL News services.

This specific update in December 1998 covered a time when the South African 4-way team DeLand Equanimity had discontinued after winning FAI bronze medals at the FAI World Meet 1997. All team members staid in the United States, and Gary Smith followed up with two 4-way world championship titles, the first one with DeLand Majik and Equanimity team mate Solly Williams in 2004, the second one with DeLand Fire in 2006. Gary Smith has now been coaching NMP PCH HayaBusa for several years.

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The NSL News has asked Gary Smith for his take on formation skydiving competition topics many times in the past, last time on February 5th. He discussed the situation in 4-way and 8-way competition with Golden Knights team captain Andrew Starr and Qatar Falcons coach Jeremie Rollett.

This NSL Live Talk took place in Zephyrhills, Florida, when Golden Knights, Qatar Falcons and Qatar Tigers were in training at Skydive City. The corona virus pandemic was still not a topic at that time.

The Qatar delegation was back in March for the last training camp before the Shamrock Showdown 2020, where the best 4-way and 8-way teams in the world were planning to get their first outdoor test of the world meet season. The French national teams were training at Skydive DeLand at the same time.

The NSL News did not connect with coaches or teams earlier this month for live interviews, and the corona virus issue was now keeping the whole world very busy at the beginning of this month.

Eventually, the Shamrock Showdown had to be canceled when the French and Qatar delegations left on a very short order, and the Golden Knights were facing travel restrictions, as well.

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Shamrock Showdown 2020			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open - NSL Power Rankings		TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	Total	Avg
1	Tanay 8	RU	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1	Aerodyne Cypres Hauts de France	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1	Airspeed XP8	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	Qatar Falcons	QA	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	Golden Knights	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Expected 8-way field for the Shamrock Showdown 2020

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Gary Smith was back in the Netherlands when the NSL News was asking him once again for an update from his point of view. He and his family were in social isolation on the island of Texel, where he has been living for several years. The new NSL Live Talk, once again recorded on ZOOM, followed up on the situation of the teams that he has been coaching, and on his personal situation, as well.

He said that the skydiving community has been hit quite hard by the impact of the corona virus pandemic. It is not only very unfortunate that skydiving centers and wind tunnels had to be shut down across the planet. The majority of people who are working in the skydiving world are not employed by well-funded corporations and cannot lean back on social benefits to master the challenging situation.

Gary Smith said that there are only a few professional athletes who have the direct support of government resources. NMP PCH HayaBusa, Golden Knights and the Qatar teams are a part of the military and police services in their respective countries and are in relatively secure positions, even if they cannot continue with training and competition until the crisis is over.

Gary Smith is as self-depending in his coaching profession as many other people in different parts of the skydiving world, and he has to wait until training resumes. There is no time-line when this will happen. He said that FAI will decide at the end of May whether the world championships will take place in Tanay, Russia, or not.