posted Feb 3rd, 2010 - The World Challenge 2010 has mostly been in the NSL News spotlight of the next upcoming meets, and this is for a good reason. The indoor competition at Bodyflight Bedford is really the major competition these days.

However, the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2010 is not too far behind in value and relevance. The logistics of an outdoor competition make it more challenging, as the weather plays an important role. However, the actual results on the scoreboard still speak a more realistic language compared to an indoor competition. Fact is that the skydiving world will know a lot more about the 2010 season after the powerful combination of these two 4-way events.

Actually, the Shamrock Showdown 2010 is not only a 4-way competition this year. An invitational 8-way competition has been added for the first time in the history of the event. The new US national 8-way team for the World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2010, the Golden Knights, suggested an 8-way meet at the Shamrock Showdown, as the US Army team was looking for more serious competition practice.

It was not too difficult to convince the event management, which is the National Skydiving League in this case, that a high-profile 8-way competition would benefit the event. Golden Knights team captain Brian "BK" Krause had already discussed the project with Paraclete XP's multi world champion Kirk Verner before he brought the 8-way competition at the Shamrock Showdown 2010 to the NSL attention.

Finally, the three parties discussed the logistics of the event and agreed that it would be possible to integrate the 8-way competition into the Shamrock Showdown schedule. Both 8-way teams did not want to interfere with the traditional 4-way competition, as they are planning to compete in 4-way, as well. Brian Krause will send two 4-way teams with a mix of talent and experience into the Shamrock race, while Kirk Verner has a world class Paraclete XP lineup himself.

It did not take too long until the word of the Shamrock 8-way competition made it out into the public, and the original idea of a Golden Knights - Paraclete XP 8-way showdown sounded appealing to the Dallas Rogue 8-way experts, as well. The team members communicated the next 8-way opportunity with each other, and it turned out that Dallas Rogue will most likely compete at the Shamrock Showdown this year.

The high-profile 8-way competition will also be a great training opportunity for the event judges. There really are not many 8-way competitions where the judges can train their eyes adequately, while the international NSL Network provides plenty of 4-way opportunities for teams and judges.

The Shamrock Showdown 2010 will feature the same world class judging and DZ-TV as in 2009. CamScore provided the judging and DZ-TV system already last year, then also worked together with the NSL News at the World Challenge 2009, the World Cup 2009 and finally the USPA Nationals 2009.

Rina Gallo, Judy Celaya amd Eric Heinsheimer pushed the CamScore buttons already at the Shamrock Showdown 2009. The same world class judges will come back to DeLand in March 2010. Only Eric Heinsheimer still has to finalize his schedule and then confirm his trip to DeLand.

This most powerful combination of judges and DZ-TV technique will guarantee for the most important logistics of a 4-way competition. The three 8-way teams can also count on the best and most accurate evaluation of their jumps in March.

The 8-way competition is limited to the invited teams, as it is difficult enough to accommodate both events within a 3-day time period. However, the 4-way competition is still open for teams that would like to start the 2010 outdoor season at a high-profile competition. It is already an international world class field and an opportunity to compete side by side with former, reigning and future world champions.