posted Sep 7th, 2010 - The USPA Nationals 2010 is not the only major event beginning this weekend. Several European teams also celebrate the conclusion of the 2010 season at the ESL Championship 2010 where the ESL Spirit is one again on stake at the fun event.

UK correspondent Jo Hawley provided a preview of the event. She will also be at the competition site to send updates for the NSL News, while ESL organizer Mike Pennock promised to provide the scores as soon as they are available. The NSL News will report from the USPA Nationals at the same time.

Jo Hawley took a closer look at the registered teams. The NSL News added last year's final leaderboard to bring back memories. NSL-TV uploaded competition videos of the British teams that competed at the UK Nationals 2010. The videos inlude the three A Class medalists and the two UK teams which will compete for the British delegation in the A Class on Texel this weekend, Gr4vity and Nimeton.

ESL Championship 2009		Round1	Round2	Round3	Round4	Round5	Round6	Round7	Round8	Round9	Round10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	N,2,M,H	E,4,14	9,L,B,D	Q,A,3,11	C,O,18,20	17,12,21	19,P,16	J,22,15	F,G,1,7	8,6,13	Total	Avg
1	UK Satori	26	19	35	21	20	16	19	19	21	17	213	21.3
2	Belgium 4XTT	23	17	31	18	17	15	19	16	23	15	194	19.4
3	Norway Frost	18	16	25	16	15	15	16	15	21	14	171	17.1
4	Italy Spinapsimo	21	14	23	16	15	13	15	14	20	12	163	16.3
5	UK Voodoo SA	22	14	24	15	15	12	14	11	17	14	158	15.8
6	UK Phobia	20	14	18	12	13	12	11	12	17	14	143	14.3
7	UK Fend 4 Yourself	16	12	20	9	10	11	11	11	16	11	127	12.7
8	UK Nuvision	15	13	17	11	11	10	11	12	14	11	125	12.5
9	Netherlands 4tunate	9	9	13	9	9	9	6	8	11	9	92	9.2
Rank	AA Class	G,L,21	7,11	A,D,20	9,Q,1	18,14	8,C,E	13,N,15	2,M,F	J,4,6	19,B,K	Total	Avg
1	Netherlands Ignition	12	9	13	13	9	12	10	13	11	12	114	11.4
2	Netherlands Empat Laki Laki	8	11	10	10	7	10	9	16	9	13	103	10.3
3	UK Random Vengeance	8	11	7	13	8	10	9	13	11	11	101	10.1
4	Netherlands Serges Angels	11	9	10	9	7	11	8	13	9	10	97	9.7
5	UK Old Skool	10	7	7	4	5	7	6	9	7	7	69	6.9
Rank	A Class	F,A,N	21,Q	19,J	P,8	H,6	C,E,M	4,D	9,O	G,7	L,2	Total	Avg
1	Netherlands Creeps	19	10	11	9	11	16	8	13	13	9	119	11.9
2	UK Slot Machine	14	9	6	5	11	18	10	14	12	11	110	11.0
3	UK PE	14	8	9	8	9	13	10	12	10	10	103	10.3
Rank	Rookie	L,F,K	D,M,G	P,J,Q	A,N,C	B,H,E	O,F,B	L,C,J	O,M,Q	G,D,H	A,P,N	Total	Avg
1	Netherlands Meo	11	11	18	12	15	21	11	19	12	14	144	14.4
2	UK Gr4vity	13	11	11	7	13	17	11	19	11	12	125	12.5
3	Greece Blue Rebels	9	7	9	9	12	17	5	13	7	9	97	9.7
4	UK Beef Curtains	8	6	7	5	12	12	5	11	4	8	78	7.8
5	UK Karma	5	7	6	4	10	10	5	5	7	6	65	6.5
6	UK RAFSPA Typhoon	6	7	5	4	5	9	5	4	7	3	55	5.5

ESL Championship 2010

Written by Jo Hawley

With over 20 teams registered for this weekend’s European Skydiving League Championship event, teams are starting to make their way to the Netherlands. Texel will again host the competition which started eight years ago and is still going strong.

Five nations are expected to be represented when jumping starts on Friday. The host nation was planning to send over ten teams, including Dynamic Fource who finished 9th at the World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2010 with an impressive 20.7 average. The Dutch national team however has now withdrawn through injury to two of their members. The Ukrainian team also had to pull out at the last minute due to a team member breaking both shoulders during a canopy collision during their national championships last weekend.

It leaves the AAA Class competition wide open and should see a good competition between the other Dutch AAA Class teams. Greek team Blue Rebels came in 3rd in the Rookie Class last year and has now moved up into the AAA Class. Either they’ve done plenty of training or they need to fire their admin guy!

In the AA Class Dutch team Creeps will look to add another set of ESL gold medals to their collection after winning the A Class competition last year. Can anyone stop them? The British team Old Skool is hoping that with their Kaizen ringer joining them in the Center Inside slot they can improve on the 7-point average of last year when they entered as a scratch team.

The most competitive category seems to be the A Class. UK team Gr4vity has consistently posted strong scores this year and will be keen to pick up an ESL medal after narrowly missing out on silverware at the UK Nationals 2010.

The four registered A Class competitors have only posted averages around 10 points, but having beaten Gr4vity to Rookie Class gold at last year’s meet, will Meo have the hunger it takes to succeed? Not forgetting that the Czech Crazy Dragons have been taking nationals gold medals all year at home too. All eyes will be on the A Class this weekend.

UK Nationals 2010 - A Class Competition

The United Kingdom is bringing only four teams compared to 13 last year when the ESL Championship was held on home turf. High Altitude Heroes will be looking for international recognition after taking Rookie Class bronze medals at the recent nationals. They certainly look like the team to beat having posted a 12.4 average, but Mach 4 might be able to give them a run for their money given the Dutch team's recent form.

With teams in every category, the Dutch delegation is planning to hold onto the “ESL Spirit” after taking it back from the Brits last year. The Spirit is the prize for the nation who can score the most points awarded to their highest placed team in each category. The trophy is a large sword so it’s a good job that European border controls have been relaxed in recent years...

The competition begins on Friday, and it’s not too late to bring your team. Here’s hoping the weather is better than 2008 when Texel last hosted and the teams had a great party, but few skydives.