posted Apr 25th, 2020 - The situation was complicated and difficult enough for the host in Tanay, Russia, and for the officials of the International Skydiving Commission (ISC) to find a reasonable solution how to deal with the corona virus crisis. The NSL News pointed out some of the implications after yesterday's announcement that the Mondial 2020 has been canceled and rescheduled.

In fact, the host is usually carrying most of the responsibilities and the financial burden of running the event. The officials of the International Skydiving Commission (ISC) and all participants depend on the motivation of the host to make the investments and efforts that are necessary to organize such a major event.

However, the implications of a major decision like the most recent one reach much further, and the participants at the bottom of the "command chain" eventually have to deal with the consequences. The NSL News will soon take a closer look at the ways how teams and competitors are directly affected and follow up with feedback.

There is still a tier between the International Skydiving Commission (ISC) with the last and final word, after discussing the situation with the host, and the teams and competitors who are actually competing at the events.

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French Outdoor Nationals 2019		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open	14,9,P		K,5,16		D,13,Q,7		1,21,O		22,E,18		N,G,10,B		19,8,17		M,15,11		Total	Avg
1	Aerodyne Cypres Lille-Bondues	20	-2	20		25		21		15		23		18		21		163	20.4
2	Aerodyne Cypres Maubeuge	21		19		21		15	-1	16		20		15		18	-1	145	18.1
3	Odin Parachute System	15	-1	15	-1	13	-3	14		14		18		13		15		117	14.6
4	Airbivores Annecy Pamiers	13		16		13		13		9		16		13		15		108	13.5
5	Espoir-Metz-Lille-Bondues	15		14		12		16		11	-1	13		12		14		107	13.4
6	ExponenCiel ASPU Maubeuge	12		9		13		12		10		11	-2	9	-1	10	-1	86	10.8
7	FlyPonots	11		11		12		12		10		11		8		8	-1	83	10.4
8	ViveLaChute - A Bloc !	7		3	-2	9		7		6		6		5		6		49	6.1
9	Last Minute Call	5		4		6		6	-1	6		4	-1	5		4		40	5.0

French national teams in 4-way Women and 4-way Open at the French Nationals 2019

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Each country's skydiving federation is also directly affected by the ISC decision. They are responsible for sanctioning their respective national teams for FAI/ISC events, one team for a world championship and up to four teams for a world cup in Formation Skydiving competition.

Each participating member country is represented by an ISC delegate who connects the national skydiving federation with the International Skydiving Commission and the mother organization for all air sports, the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI).

The authority of the International Skydiving Commission practically ends at the level of the national skydiving federations, even though they all adopt most of the FAI/ISC rules and regulations for world championships and world cups, including dive pools, sequences and other competition details.

The national skydiving federations, such as the United States Parachute Association (USPA), or the British Parachute Association (BPA), have their own authorities to develop country-specific rules and regulations for their national championships and how to select their national teams for the FAI/ISC events.

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USPA Nationals 2019			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open Class		7,C,H,P		J,21,20		O,3,11		B,2,K,E		8,Q,10		15,D,F,12		N,L,M,14		6,1,9		A,18,13		G,4,5		17,16,22		Total	Avg
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	45	-1	24		27		37		21		25		34		25	-1	26	-1	25	-4	-		289	28.9
2	SDC Rhythm XP	US	41		22		21	-1	33		21		23		27		25		24		25		21	-1	262	26.2
3	Arizona Airspeed	US	40	-1	24		22	-2	32		19	-2	24		29		25		21	-2	26	-1	20	-2	262	26.2
4	Defiance	US	30	-1	21		15	-4	28		16		19		22	-3	21		18	-1	18	-1	-		208	20.8
5	Ranch 2nd Generation	US	26		19		19		24	-2	16	-1	17	-1	24		18	-1	19		19		-		201	20.1
6	Kinetix	AU	26		18		17		22		13	-1	17		18	-1	17		17		17		-		182	18.2
7	Lite XP	US	24	-1	17		17		22		15		17		20	-2	16	-1	14		17		-		179	17.9
8	No Name	US	22	-4	17		14		19	-2	12	-2	13		14	-3	15		14		16		-		156	15.6
9	Aviatrixx	US	21		14		13	-1	18	-1	12	-2	15		17	-1	14	-1	12		14		-		150	15.0
10	Perris Force	US	20		13	-1	14		18		11	-1	11		18	-1	13	-1	12		12	-1	-		142	14.2

SDC Rhythm XP and Arizona Airspeed at the USPA Nationals 2019

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The qualification and selection rules are different between the participating countries, and they have been established over many years of national and international Formation Skydiving competition. Two of the world's powerhouses in the sport, United States and France, have been demonstrating the most significant differences in qualification and selection rules very successfully for many years.

The annual USPA National Parachuting Championships generate the national champions and are the qualification event for world championships and world cups in the following year. On the other end, the French national coach, assigned by the French skydiving federation, selects the members of the national teams. The results of the national championships have no impact on the qualification for the FAI/ISC events.

The French way seems to be the easier one in the situation that all sports are facing at the moment. There is no obvious reason why national coach Mathieu Bernier would not continue in 2021 with this year's national teams. In fact, he would have an additional year to guide the young lineup to even higher levels. However, the difficulties for Mathieu Bernier are of a different nature, and the NSL News will follow up on the topic.

It seems to be much more complicated for USPA, where last year's national championships qualified SDC Rhythm XP and Airspeed XP8 for the Mondial 2020 in Tanay. There is a new national championship event in November at Skydive City, which would have been the qualifier for FAI/ISC events in 2021. The NSL News will also follow up with more information on this topic, as well.