posted Sep 24th, 2009 - As usual at IPC's 1st Category Events (World Cups, World Meets), the FAI World Cup 2009 included an open meeting for teams, competitors, coaches and offcials. The one in Prostejov was held after the judging of the last round was completed.

Fiona McEachern, Chair of IPC's Formation Skydiving Competition Committee, was not present in the Czech Republic. Deputy Chair Trude Sviggum, IPC Delegate for Norway and former international 4-way competitor in the female category, conducted the meeting for the IPC Competition Committee.

The meeting after the conclusion of the World Cup may have been the shortest and smoothest in the recent history of 1st Category Events. Trude Sviggum had prepared and handed out copies of the agenda's summary, and there were no controversial topics.

Jury member Niels-Christian Levin Hansen then provided an overview of IPC's Strategic Plan for the future of the sport. The draft policy paper was developed by the IPC Bureau in September 2008 and states that "The Mission of the FAI International Parachute Commission is the Pursuit of Excellence in Sport Parachuting" by being "attractive and dynamic".

The group of teams, competitors, coaches and judges did not have any problems with this message. It became more interesting when Niels-Christian Levin Hansen mentioned the key words "instant judging" during his introduction of the IPC mission.

IPC's Strategic Plan includes three areas of initiatives: competition formats, selection process for international events and promotion of safety. The key word "instant judging" can be found in the section for competition formats, where the IPC declares the goal for this important area:

"The vision of IPC to develop competition formats that clearly communicate the competitive element of the disciplines to the audience and the participant."

The measures that the IPC will apply to reach this goal includes instand judging ("Introduce instant judging and presentation of results in all disciplines, simplify the competition rules and improve the consistency of rules across disciplines"). The key words "instant judging" instantly caught the attention of the open meeting in Prostejov and initiated the only discussion.

"Instant Judging" applies only one viewing of the competition jump in full speed, ultimately with live transmission from freefall.

Some participants in the open meeting saw a potential conflict situation with instant judging in Formation Skydiving competition.

The recent events and discussions were leading in the opposite direction, as the search for the ultimate truth and most accurate scoring even brought slower judging speed into the picture. Instant judging would make it even more difficult and challenging for the judges to get as close as possible to the truth than it already is.

The 4-way teams have brought the performance and scoring level up to heights and a speed which were unthinkable years ago. The judges are working hard to keep up with the challenge of the current speed with the desire to post scores that are as accurate as possible. Judy Celaya, one of the most experienced judges in the Formation Skydiving world, expressed her concerns in this area.

Other voices expressed concerns that IPC's Strategic Plan may put the goal of pleasing the media and the general public over what is good for the teams and competitors and their interest in how to execute Formation Skydiving competition. So far, there are not many skydiving events where media and a large crowds of spectators have to be accommodated.

Jury member Niels-Christian Levin Hansen took notes and promised to bring the concerns of teams, competitors and judges to the attention of the IPC Bureau, which is eventually responsible for the Strategic Plan and the direction of the sport in the future.

Instant Judging
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Other than that, the current set of rules and the dive pool have not caused any troubles and continue to remain unchanged. The definition of the freeze frame judging has gone back to where it was before the last change, as it was already decided earlier.

Trude Sviggum, however, had added another topic at the end of her overview. She brought up the low attendance of teams in the 8-way event and the female 4-way category. She raised the basic questions: "Where should we go with these? Why are teams not attending?"

There were no answers to these questions at the open meeting in Prostejov. The competition committee will probably discuss the situation more extensively and collect as much information and feedback as possible. The numbers of teams in these categories at next year's World Championship of Formation Skydiving in Russia may have more relevance than ever before.