posted Aug 29th, 2010 - The NSL News story on 18 August 2010 reported the UK Nationals 2010, and the story on 20 August 2010 followed up with Satori's and Team Bodyflight's meet videos.

There was much more happening at UK's record breaking national championships, as UK correspondent Jo Hawley provided an overview of the competition in all four categories. The NSL News now zooms in on the AA Class competition, and Camscore provided more videos of this part of the UK Nationals 2010.

The meet videos feature all six teams in this category, which saw a nerve wrecking race for the gold medals (Unagi - RAFSPA Firefly) and another 1-point thriller for the bronze medals (Sirius - Slot Machines).

UK Nationals 2010		Round1	Round2	Round3	Round4	Round5	Round6	Round7	Round8	Round9	Round10	Total	Avg
Rank	AA Class	P,14,15	13,N,7	1,11	9,B,6	22,21	20,A,J	F,8,19	C,18,G	-	-	Total	Avg
1	Unagi	11	13	10	13	7	13	10	13	-	-	90	11.3
2	RAFSPA Firefly	10	10	10	14	8	13	13	8	-	-	86	10.8
3	Sirius	9	7	8	13	9	9	8	10	-	-	73	9.1
4	Slot Machines	7	9	8	11	8	10	10	9	-	-	72	9.0
5	Kinetic 4	7	7	6	12	7	9	7	8	-	-	63	7.9
6	Old Skool	7	8	6	8	8	8	7	10	-	-	62	7.8

Jo Hawley also mentioned that the UK teams are now challenging the USPA Nationals as the biggest national championship 4-way event in the world. 54 teams competed in 4-way at Hibaldstow on the August 15 weekend.

The NSL News recently set up the event pages for the USPA Nationals 2010, and they include last year's leaderboards. 57 teams competed at last year's USPA championships, and the UK teams are getting dangerously close.

It is interesting and encouraging to see that the 4-way community in both countries is mostly supported by teams on the grass root level, the AA/Intermediate Class in the USA (33 teams) and the Rookie Class in the United Kingdom (25 teams).

AA Class competition at the UK Nationals 2010

To make a fair comparison, however, it needs to be considered that the USPA Nationals applies only two of the four NSL competition classes. USPA's Open and Advanced Class are identical with the AAA Class dive pool and sequences that the British Parachute Association (BPA) applies.

Last year's numbers show that a total of 24 teams competed in the AAA Class at the USPA Nationals, while 12 teams competed at the UK Nationals this year. USPA's Intermediate Class (33 teams) is identical with BPA's AA Class (6 teams).

USPA actually applies the A Class, as well, as the rules for the Collegiate Championships are identical as of dive pool and sequences. 14 teams attended USPA's Collegiates 2009 and compare to the 11 A Class teams at the UK Nationals 2010.

USPA Collegiates 2009		Round1	Round2	Round3	Round4	Round5	Round6	Total	Avg
Rank	A Class	8,A	L,K,4	G,2	D,H,6	O,9	P,B,J	Total	Avg
1	VTSD	19	15	17	22	31	34	138	23.0
2	Air Force Groove	15	15	14	15	18	22	99	16.5
3	Air Force Impulse	12	10	12	15	19	24	92	15.3
4	West Point Apocalypse	11	12	10	12	20	22	87	14.5
5	West Point Vigilantes	10	11	9	10	20	15	75	12.5
6	Air Force Eminence	10	8	10	11	12	16	67	11.2
7	West Point Abroad	10	9	6	10	17	14	66	11.0
7	Air Force Vendetta	9	6	11	12	13	15	66	11.0
9	GT Ductape	8	9	6	12	13	16	64	10.7
10	Air Force Epic	6	7	8	9	12	7	49	8.2
11	Air Force 6 Balls Corner Pocket	10	3	7	4	13	11	48	8.0
12	DSS	6	5	7	7	14	7	46	7.7
13	Jarlberg's 4way Team	5	5	6	7	11	6	40	6.7
14	Navy Squidbillies	3	3	5	0	0	0	11	1.8

USPA does not have a category below the A Class and closer to the grass root level at the national championships. Rookie Class teams compete at the NSL meets on a regional level and also have the opportunity to compete for medals and the Rookie Class trophy at SkyQuest's NSL Championship in November.

However, the numbers of teams closest to the grass root level are still the most impressive ones in both countries. It is also a fact that the number of UK teams present on competition site at a national 4-way championship are now almost the same as in the USA.

The 54 UK teams all competed on the same weekend in Hibaldstow. This situation is similar to the first weekend of the USPA Nationals, which always begins with the 4-way competition. The British challenge is on, and the number of teams will be counted on the evening of Friday, September 10.