posted Sep 24th, 2011 - The NSL News reported on 15 September 2011 that the Belgian/Dutch lineup of Thunder might be in a position to challenge the German team Paratec-Saar for the unofficial title of the best "amateur team" in the world.

Thunder followed up with scores at the ESL Championship 2011 the following weekend, which confirmed that both teams are really very close to each other. The NSL News continued with this topic and a more specific evaluation on 21 September 2011.

The next step was getting the vidoes of Thunder at the ESL Championship. Most of the Paratec-Saar meet videos have already been shown with the coverage of the World Cup 2011. The Thunder jumps can now be reviewed, Rounds 1 to 5 in the first video below, Round 6 to 10 further down.

Thunder's Center Outside Paul Hofstee, one of the two Dutch members, said that his team was missing more pressure at the ESL Championship. They had hoped that UK team Satori would visit for a good fight, but the United Kingdom had only a 1-team delegation in Texel, with Gringo in the Rookie Class.

Thunder lost a total of six points in the 10-round meet. The Thunder meet videos also show a few other hickups, and the combination of point deductions and flaws eventually kept the meet average below 20 points. However, Thunder was still satisfied with the ESL performance and now looks forward to the 2012 season.

The NSL News mentioned earlier that Thunder has made plans for next year. The same lineup expects to complete another 250 team jumps in the second year and additional 15 hours of indoor training.

The World Challenge 2012, Shamrock Showdown and Tomscat Trophy are on the Thunder meet agenda. The ESL Championship 2012 may be added later. Hopefully, there will be stronger competition and pressure at next year's ESL event if Thunder attends the meet. The German 4way team was constantly under pressure at the World Cup and confirmed that this helped to push the performance level and energy input.

World Challenge and Shamrock Showdown have guaranteed enough pressure for the top teams in the past years. Thunder will be enjoying it in 2012. It will be Thunder's second appearance in Bedford and the first one in DeLand.