posted Oct 27th, 2023 - The last NSL Live Talk on Zoom was a conversation with NMP PCH HayaBusa's 4-time world champion David Grauwels on October 18th. He confirmed that the Belgian world-class team had completed their selection of a new team member.

David Grauwels also mentioned that his team would very soon begin with the new lineup's first outdoor training, which was scheduled for this month at Skydive City. The introduction of the new team member would rather be a personal one during this training camp, and the complete lineup was available on Thursday after a short training day.

The winds had picked up, and the conditions did not fit well any longer for the complete new lineup, where the experience level has changed significantly with a new team member. Ray Lodens is 19 years of age, and his total number of jumps was at 280 earlier on the same day.

The NSL News arrived barely in time to witness the last training jump on Thursday, and the critical wind situation was enough reason to finish the training day with debriefing, followed by the NSL Live Talk conversation.

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NSL Live Talk with NMP PCH HayaBusa - Outdoor Training at Skydive City

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It was a traditional introduction of the new team member this time. The first appearance of Michele Silvi on NSL Live Talk on May 2019 was a special one, with a surprising revelation. Ray Lodens was introduced by Dennis Praet before he explained his background and athletic history.

He is still currently in 2nd place of the Ju-Jitsu U21 world rankings. His father was a Belgian para-trooper, and Ray Lodens had already planned to join the Belgian Army before NMP PCH HayaBusa were looking for a new team member. However, as most of the Belgian skydivers, he became a fan of the Belgian 4-way world champions as soon as he made his first jump.

He had caught Jeroen Nollet's attention early, as they both had the same home dropzone. NMP PCH HayaBusa was not actively recruiting when they met, while Jeroen Nollet took a mental note that there would be a potential candidate in the future. The process of joining the Belgian Army for a military career was only accelerated when NMP PCH HayaBusa were convinced that they had found their new team mate.

NMP PCH HayaBusa lineups since 2002

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There is still no shortcut in becoming a Belgian soldier, and Ray Lodens still has to follow the same procedures that Michele Silvi had to go through when he joined NMP PCH HayaBusa. He will not be available for HayaBusa training and competition when he is attending the required boot camps.

The Belgian team, still with three multiple 4-way world champions (David Grauwels, Dennis Praet, Jeroen Nollet), and with well trained inside center Neal Willems, had to create a special plan to accommodate the new situation. Ray Lodens has taken the point slot that Dennis Praet had for 13 years. The second 4-time world champion in the current lineup will be his front piece partner as the new outside center. The rear piece is unchanged - at least as soon as Ray Lodens is fully available.

In the meantime, the HayaBusa slots will have to be scrambled quite a bit to accommodate the CISM goals,. The Belgians are still the reigning CISM world champions. David Grauwels has to step back into the active lineup and take the inside center slot that he had from 2009 to 2019. That's the slot that he had when HayaBusa won three world championship titles and before he switched to the camera position.

Current inside center Neal Willems moves to the tail slot, where he can continue to learn more about the rear piece. Jeroen Nollet has the biggest move from tail to the front piece. He and Dennis Praet still have to decide who takes which slot. Dennis Praet knows the front piece in and out, while Jeroen Nollet will be totally new to both slots. The CISM lineup will also compete at the Belgian indoor championship. NMP PCH HayaBusa explained more of the details during the NSL Live Talk.