posted Jan 16th, 2011 - The NSL News switches from the very top level of world class 4-way competition at the Dubai Championship 2011 to the place where even the best competitors on the planet and all world champions have actually come from - the grassroot level.

In fact, one of the current shooting stars in the 4-way world, 21-year old Dennis Praet of the Belgian national team NMP-PCH Hayabusa, has only been in the sport for four years. He can probably still remember best how it felt when he had just learned to control the parachute and then the freefall.

Most of the members of the Falling Gators skydiving club are also young of age and relatively new in the sport. They study at the University of Florida in Gainesville and have made Skydive Palatka their home on most of the weekends.

Art Shaffer is operating Skydive Palatka, and he welcomes Formation Skydiving fans and teams. There are several Falling Gators and other locals who have been interested in learning more about Formation Skydiving and the NSL 4-way world, and the NSL News finally visited yesterday.

His son Shane Schaffer is currently in Dubai and competes in Canopy Piloting. He is in fact one of the best in the world, as he is in 12th place of 90 participants. His best performance was in Accuracy where he finished 5th after two rounds.

It was a fun visit in Palatka, and NSL News reporter Kurt Gaebel made two jumps with the Falling Gators and friends on Saturday. The NSL Networking project will continue throughout the whole year in Florida and extend to as many other league areas as possible. The NSL News will go back to Skydive Palatka when the University of Florida's Falling Gators Skydiving Club and Skydive Palatka are hosting the 13th Annual Collegiate Boogie in February.