posted Apr 29th, 2020 - Gary Smith and Joey Jones have spent a lot of time together in the Formation Skydiving competition world, and it began years before they met many times for NSL Live Talk at the Coaches Corner.

The lively Coaches Corner conversations usually took place at the major Formation Skydiving competition events with NSL News live coverage, where they would either compete or work as coaches with teams to get them ready for competition action.

The corona virus crisis changed the Coaches Corner situation, as well. Gary Smith and Joey Jones connected for the first time via the internet with the NSL News, while it was still for the same purpose. They discussed the most recent topics that have shaken up the Formation Skydiving world through the impact of the corona virus crisis.

The topics were mostly related to the last and the bottom tier of the organizations and people who have been involved in and affected by the cancellation and rescheduling of the Mondial Tanay 2020, after the decision was made by the International Skydiving Commission (ISC) of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) and the Russian host, followed by a closer look at the implications on the skydiving federations of participating countries. Gary Smith and Joey Jones now took a closer look at the situation for the teams and top contenders who have to adjust to the new situation.

---

Coaches Corner with Gary Smith and Joey Jones on 28 April 2020

---

Gary Smith and Joey Jones spent their most intensive time together when they trained and competed with DeLand Majik and won their 4-way gold medals at the FAI World Meet 2004 in Rijeka, Croatia. They were actually even front piece partners, Joey Jones in the center position, Gary Smith in the point slot. Solly Williams and Doug Park were their team mates in the rear piece.

Gary Smith followed up with another 4-way gold medal with DeLand Fire in 2006. Both front piece partners eventually turned their successful careers into coaching business, and Joey Jones is still an active 4-way competitor as the player-coach for the British team Eros.

They have even more in common, as they both helped steering NMP PCH HayaBusa in the right direction with their coaching at different times, first Joey Jones, then Gary Smith. Joey Jones pointed out during the latest NSL Live Talk in the Coaches Corner that their DeLand Majik team mate Doug Park was actually the first coach for the reigning Belgian indoor and outdoor world champions.

Doug Park was coaching the original HayaBusa lineup for a few years until Joey Jones took over. Gary Smith eventually completed the work of the DeLand Majik coaches with the first world championship title for Belgium.

---

FAI Outdoor World Meet 2004			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		B,P,C,18	9,15,16	K,11,19	E,F,7,5	A,J,21,12	6,4,10	17,Q,L,1	H,14,3	13,22,O	N,M,D,2	Total	Avg
1	DeLand Majik	US	29	23	17	30	18	19	27	21	19	24	227	22.7
2	Maubeuge	FR	28	22	18	30	17	19	23	20	18	24	219	21.9
3	Sky Panthers	RU	24	21	19	25	22	15	28	19	16	22	211	21.1
4	Sinapsi PD	IT	22	21	20	28	21	18	23	19	16	22	210	21.0
5	EADS	DE	20	18	17	24	17	16	19	17	16	19	183	18.3
6	HayaBusa	BE	21	17	17	21	11	16	20	17	17	21	178	17.8
7	Endeavour	CH	16	17	14	19	16	13	19	14	14	-	142	15.8
7	Arcteryx	NO	19	14	15	21	15	13	17	15	13	-	142	15.8
9	Danez	DK	17	16	13	21	11	15	19	15	14	-	141	15.7
10	Spain	ES	19	16	15	21	15	11	16	12	14	-	139	15.4
11	Voodoo	UK	15	14	14	19	15	13	14	12	-	-	116	14.5
12	VNE	UK	15	15	13	18	15	11	14	13	-	-	114	14.3
13	Australia	AU	11	15	13	18	15	13	14	13	-	-	112	14.0
14	Stratosfear	CA	15	14	12	17	13	12	16	12	-	-	111	13.9
15	R-Fource	NL	16	14	13	17	11	10	14	12	-	-	107	13.4
15	Matrix	AT	13	14	13	18	13	13	11	12	-	-	107	13.4
17	New Zealand	NZ	15	14	12	14	13	11	15	12	-	-	106	13.3
18	Croatia	HR	16	11	12	16	13	11	9	10	-	-	98	12.3
19	Slovenia	SI	14	11	10	12	10	9	9	10	-	-	85	10.6
20	Kazakhstan	KZ	5	5	0	6	4	6	5	4	-	-	35	4.4
21	Iceland	IS	2	1	1	3	1	2	4	1	-	-	15	1.9

DeLand Majik at the Shamrock Showdown 2002 and 2003

---

Gary Smith and Joey Jones now had a new opportunity to discuss the NMP PCH HayaBusa situation, as they were evaluating the top teams mostly from the athletic point of view. Gary Smith is still working with the Belgian world champions, while Joey Jones has been coaching their indoor opponents, the Weembi High Rollers.

The latest NSL Live Talk took place on April 28th, one day after the United States Parachute Association had announced that the USPA Nationals 2019 would still count as the qualification event for the Mondial Tanay 2020 in August 2021. SDC Rhythm XP (4-way Open), Aviatrixx (4-way Women) and Airspeed XP8 (8-way Open) will compete for the U.S. delegation next year, no matter of the outcome at this year's national championship at Skydive City in November.

Gary Smith and Joey Jones were somehow surprised after the USPA decision, as it could make it a little bit easier for the reigning world champions to defend their title in 2021. NMP PCH HayaBusa is facing the next personnel change this year, when original member David Grauwels forwards his active slot to former Amnesya member Michele Silvi. Outside center Andy Grauwels is now the only original member in the new lineup.

A strong U.S. team could have a realistic opportunity in 2021 to challenge the Belgians with their new lineup. However, USPA decided to honor the results of last year's national championship and confirmed the U.S. delegation for Tanay 2020 early. SDC Rhythm XP will take on the difficult task to bring the William H. Ottley Sword for 4-way Formation Skydiving competition, also known as the Excalibur, back to the United States. The reigning U.S. 4-way champions have a year and four months to form their strongest lineup and get to the Belgian top level.