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Did You Know...

... that Solly Williams caught up with Gary Smith and Joey Jones on NSL Live Talk?

DeLand Majik and NMP PCH HayaBusa in Rijeka 2004
posted Sep 27th, 2022 - The NSL News aftermath of the USPA Nationals 2022 began already at the competition site, Skydive Chicago in Ottawa, Illinios, just a few hours after the completion of the Formation Skydiving events.

Expert conversation in the NSL News Coaches Corner has been a part of the aftermath for many years, and coaches Gary Smith and Joey Jones have contributed their feedback for the audience since the Coaches Corner was introduced. Both are professionals in the sport, as they were first world champions in Formation Skydiving competition before turning into very popular and busy coaches.

One of the many interesting aspects of their careers is the fact that they shared some of their time as 4-way world champions as team mates, and even piece partners, with DeLand Majik. This year, Joey Jones was working with Arizona Airspeed, Gary Smith once again with NMP PCH HayaBusa and Qatar Tigers. All three teams will oppose each other at the upcoming FAI Outdoor World Meet 2022, and they also posted scores on the 4-way Open Class leaderboard of the USPA Nationals for the same ten sequences.

Solly Williams and Doug Park were their world champion team mates with DeLand Majik in 2004, after they had defeated strong U.S. opponents at the USPA Nationals 2003, Golden Knights Gold by two points, Arizona Airspeed by three points. Doug Park, Joey Jones and Gary Smith have all worked as coaches for NMP PCH HayaBusa in the past, who finally became 4-way world champions in 2014, the title that they have defended successfully more often than any other national 4-way teams in the last 25 years. Only France has matched this record with four consecutive 4-way titles between 1987 and 1993.


USPA Nationals 2003
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total Avg
Rank 4-way Open 8,A,Q,F 15,3,G 4,N,22 J,7,B,H O,13,17 16,K,1 21,D,L,14 6,5,2 12,P,11 10,19,18 Total Avg
1 DeLand Majik 26    19    17    32    23    20    21    19    19    17    213 21.3
2 Golden Knights Gold 26    18    19 -2 32    23    21    19    17 -2 19    17    211 21.1
3 Airspeed Vertical 27    18    17 -2 34    18 -5 19    21    19    18    19    210 21.0
4 Airspeed Dragon 19 -2 15    17    30    20    14 -2 18    17    15    14    179 17.9
5 Golden Knights Black 20    15    16    27    15 -2 17    17    16    16    14    173 17.3
6 Perris School Boys 21    15    14    25    18    13 -2 16    14    12    12    160 16.0
7 DeLand Synchronicity 18    15    14    23    15 -2 14    15    15    14    12    155 15.5
8 The Ranch Team 17    14    13 -1 22    15    16    12    14    13    12    148 14.8
9 Teiwaz 17    13    13    17 -2 15    14    15    13    11    11    139 13.9
10 DeLand Chikara 16    12    11    19    14    12    13    13    13    9 -2 132 13.2
11 Optik Kurves 16    11    11    22    12    12    14    10    11    9    128 12.8
12 Elsinore Illusion 16    6 -4 12    22    14    9 -2 14    13    12    9 -2 127 12.7
13 4 Something 14    9    9    16    7 -2 9    11    8 -3 9    9    101 10.1
14 Wingspan 11    10    7 -2 14    9 -2 10    9    7 -2 7 -2 8    92 9.2
15 Guy Chuck JP Billy Mike 7 -4 7    8    9 -2 8 -1 4 -2 0    7 -1 3 -1 6 -1 59 5.9

Agera FS2023 DeLand training camp in 2020
Doug Park is not actively involved in Formation Skydiving competition any longer, while he is still following the action with the same passion that he had years ago. Solly Williams has continued with 4-way coaching and will meet his former team mates Gary Smith and Joey Jones at this year's world meet, where they will be opponents as coaches.

Joey Jones will follow Arizona Airspeed's performance towards winning the FAI gold medals, even though he has completed his mission with the team. Gary Smith is in a similarly tricky position, as he is leading NMP PCH HayaBusa and Qatar Tigers both into the battle for the medal positions behind the top favorite, Arizona Airspeed.

Solly Williams does not have a direct conflict of interest in his coaching position, as the two teams that he is coaching, Norway's Agera FS2023 and Adventure Flyers from Paraguay, are not expected to compete for close positions on the 4-way Open Class leaderboard.

Solly Williams has also worked with Arizona Airspeed in the past, and he took on a new coaching job with a U.S. team this year. He guided Skydive Midwest NEXT to the status of a USPA medal contender in 4-way Open, and he was at Skydive Chicago to witness the battle for the USPA bronze medals between SDC Rhythm XP, XPG4 and Skydive Midwest NEXT.



NSL Live Talk with Solly Williams, Gary Smith, Joey Jones
DeLand Norgies with Solly Williams at the USPA Nationals 1999
Solly Williams is home in DeLand, Florida, where the Norwegian national 4-way Open Class team, Agera FS2023, had scheduled their last training camp before the outdoor world meet next month. Agera have been a regular visitor at Skydive DeLand since Solly Williams started the coaching work with the team.

His cooperation with Norwegian teams reaches far back to the time when the DeLand Norgies were training in DeLand on a regular basis, and he was coaching the most successful Norwegian national 4-way team in history. The DeLand Norgies won FAI bronze medals in 1999, 2001 and 2003.

He had just concluded his time with the South African national team 4-way Equanimity and won FAI bronze medals in 1997. Equanimity had made Skydive DeLand their home by then, and Solly Williams never went back. The success of this cooperation with Norway has continued, as Agera FS2023 has turned into one of the most promising teams behind the FAI medal positions.

Agera had just arrived in DeLand when there was unexpected time for NSL Talk with Solly Williams. The weather situation interfered with the start of the training camp, which was not related to the currently approaching hurricane. He had enough time for a review of the USPA Nationals and a preview of the upcoming outdoor world meet.

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