posted Jul 15th, 2011 - The June issue of the Blue Skies Mag (#21) featured the next piece of the "Turning Points" series. It is the sixth contribution from the Formation Skydiving competition community by the NSL News and for the comprehensive Blue Skies Mag coverage of the whole skydiving world.

The previous article covered the best teams in the world, and the World Cup 2011 will soon provide new information. However, this time the NSL News went to the other side of the large Formation Skydiving community for the Blue Skies Mag piece and looked at 4-way competition from the grassroot level perspective.

In fact, NSL founder Kurt Gaebel used his own 31-year experiences to provide a different perspective. Blue Skies Mag introduced the author with a nutshell profile: "About the author: Kurt Gaebel is the founder of the National Skydiving League (NSL). His impact on the sport through the NSL is beyond words. If you're unfamiliar, find the person at your DZ who seems to have a creeper growing out of his or her belly - they'll explain."

Turning Points: Team Jumping - Oh No...

Have you ever considered joining a 4-way team? You probably got scared when you thought about it. All the time and money that needs to be invested. All the training regimen and discipline that it takes to learn and show progress. And then the commitment for at least a year usually.

Well, no, sounds like fun once in a while, but they can find somebody else.

It seems like the team business attracts only the hard core skydivers, those serious guys who spend all their money to belly around on those creepers and show off in their team uniforms with all kinds of patches and embroideries. Is that really so?

Let me begin with this: i am probably one of the most passionate 4-way fans on the planet. But you know what? At the last 10-round competition that i attended, the Shamrock Showdown 2011, one of the most popular 4-way events worldwide these days, my "team" never touched a creeper. No, too much work, we preferred a coffee in the Perfect Spot while the other guys and gals practiced on their bellies. By the way, i do not recall one matching jumpsuit either...

My own situation was even more bizarre and reminded me on a Saturday morning in Z-Hills in the 80's and 90's. That was the time when a load organizer would call the hung over skydivers to action. You would not know who showed up for your first fun jump's lineup that morning.

There is a significant difference though. The load organizer in Z-Hills would not even know how many people would be on the next jump. I know that it will be a 4-way group when i go to one of my favorite events. I also know which sequence will be waiting for me, since the NSL website posted the competition draw the night before. I only have to select the category: easy (Rookie Class), some blocks (A Class), more challenging (AA Class) or high-profile (AAA Class).

Other than that, i may just meet my three teammates for the day, or for the weekend, on Saturday morning, just like in Z-Hills in the 80's and 90's. And that's just fine, i don't want to win the next world championships any longer (ouch, that hurt...), not even the national championships (...more pain). I am out for some 4-way fun; some good jumps that entertain me and let me apply what i have learned earlier.

Yes, i have learned my lesson; i have accepted that 4-way includes fun jumping. I eventually even talk with people who make less than 200 4-way training jumps per year and score below 15.0 average. It took me a while to learn that life is okay without trying to win the world championships. I am a slow learner. There have been other 4-way fans for many years who did it just for fun. I had a hard time to understand how they could resist the temptation to get fully addicted.

One day, i even decided to launch this monster, called the National Skydiving League. It was not made for the 4-way fun jumpers. My goal was to provide a platform for the hard-core teams and competitors where they could find what other athletes had in their sports. I was fortunate, and i am now grateful, that the 4-way fun jumpers were patient with me and accepted my ambitious agenda. They still enjoyed the NSL platform and came out to play with us.

Eventually, they helped me to realize that there was more than only hard-core 4-way competition. The NSL then invented the four different categories, which still provides teams and competitors of all skills levels with a matching playground. Thanks for the help and patience, guys.

However, the real breakthrough came with Teiwaz. Yes, eventually i came into the same situation as many others: wife, children, job. It became even challenging to make 100 training jumps in one year with the same lineup; you may call it "team". I was still as passionate about 4-way as before, so what was the solution? Retirement? Packing? Golfing? Not an option, i still wanted to do those 540's and swing my piece partner around, or score 120 points in a random sequence.

Teiwaz was the solution. Inviting as many 4-way friends as i know to play with me when a meet comes up. Engineering - Saturday morning, creeping - maybe, watching the videos - sometimes, debriefing - no, adult beverage at the end of the day together - yes, laughing - a lot. This has been great fun ever since the original Teiwaz lineup partially discontinued in 2000. Once in a while, there has even been some Teiwaz training, indoors and outdoors. However, the main connection was the passion for 4-way fun, shared with skydivers who did not have the hard core agenda any longer - or never had it.

My point is neither my own situation nor the Teiwaz agenda. The word "team" simply has a dark side that keeps many skydivers from turning more points in 4-way. I helped to create this dark side in the beginning years of the NSL. Now i am trying to lighten it up, and there is a lot of help. Projects like "4-way Team for a Day", "4-way Team for a Meet", "4-way Scrambles", player/coach projects, etc. have been helping to provide access to the 4-way world. It is still the same fun world that i have known in my 30 years of skydiving, and the new NSL tries to make it as easy as possible to get a taste of it.

My common sense still tells me that the chances for a successful skydive are better if you know the people well who you are jumping with. The quality and fun level gets even better when you put some efforts into training with the same group. But it doesn't have to be very serious and frequently. Best of all, eventually you can meet the like-minded folks usually once per month at the meets.

How does Aerodyne advertise? "Better Group - Better Value - Better Skydives". Alright, it is "Gear" at the beginning, but you get the point. Or let's just switch to the NSL slogan: "Blue Skies - Go Compete". Once a month, with or without Teiwaz, and just for fun.