posted Feb 18th, 2010 - The NSL News goes back in time once again, this time far back and all the way to the beginnings of the National Skydiving League. Recent discussions with some TV networks made it necessary to show some footage that was already available. This motivated the NSL News to feature a show for the NSL audience that was produced in 2000.

It was the third year of the National Skydiving League, which was founded in 1998. Teams in Florida, including the South African national team Equanimity (with Solly Williams and Gary Smith) and Sebastian XL, had started the new league system in the winter of 1996/1997.

Texas and Georgia followed in the summer of 1997, and the NSL brought the three leagues together for the first NSL Championship in 1998. Convergence competed for Texas, Mr. Pink for Georgia, and DeLand Genesis (Shannon Pilcher, Ian Bobo, Kyle Collins, David van Greuningen) won the first NSL gold medals.

Other leagues joined the NSL Network in 1999, and DeLand Genesis won the team's second title on home turf. The NSL produced the first TV show that year and landed it a few times at prime time on the Sunhine Network, a regional sports channel.

The NSL continued to grow, and teams from six other leagues visited DeLand in 2000 to compete with the defending champion of 1998 and 1999. DeLand Genesis had turned into DeLand PD Blue in the meantime and was already one of the best teams in the world.

The TV production of the NSL Championship 2000, another 30-minute show, was aired once again at prime time on the Sunshine Network, and the production company, Communication Concepts, won the Crystal Reel Award for the best sports documentation.

The 2000 production was the last one, as the NSL could not raise the funds again for more shows. The NSL Network had grown to a size that required full attention and all available time of the very small operation in DeLand.

It has not become much easier ever since to find time and solicit attention by the mainstream media. However, the networks' interest is always there, and the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2010 has recently found new attention. NSL-TV may eventually turn into something different one day.

The TV production of the NSL Championship 2000 is obviously ten years old, and things have changed.

However, the show still serves as a good example how the sport can be presented by the eletronic media.