posted Dec 27th, 2011 - The NSL News mentioned during the coverage of the USPA Nationals 2011 that this year's event was special looking at the continuity of teams and their lineups. This observation was related to the fact that the three Advanced Class winners of 2008, 2009 and 2010 were all competing in the Open Class competition of 2011.

This indicates how strongly committed 4way teams and competitors have become to their goals and team projects. It also shows very well how much fun the teams have and how 4way training and competition is more than a passion and close to a serious addiction.

It wasn't always like that, not at all. In fact, it used to be an exception when the winning team of USPA's Advanced Class, which is basically identical with the Open Class except the qualification requirements, would continue in the Open Class competition next year. It has not unusual between 1999, the first year of USPA's Advanced Class in the current format, and today that teams would compete in the Advanced Class for a few years and try to win a set of medals. However, stepping up into the Open Class competition was a different story.

USPA Nationals 2011		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	M,5,13	21,14,22	12,20,D	11,Q,16	O,C,10,K	P,L,19,8	18,6,2	15,9,G	7,F,17	A,B,N,J,3	Total	Avg
4	SDC Rhythm XP	22	17	18	21	24	20	19	22	26	26	215	21.5
12	Carolina Turbo XP	14	10	13	15	17	14	13	16	18	20	150	15.0
15	SDC Furies XP	13	11	12	16	7	15	13	16	19	18	140	14.0
3	Spaceland Lite	14	12	11	11	14	12	13	14	16	14	131	13.1

The winner of USPA's Advanced Class competition is not allowed to come back in the same category, according to USPA rules. There is no defending Advanced Class champion. The members of the winning team have to compete in the Open Class next year if at least two of them stay together. A single Advanced Class winner is allowed to compete again in a different lineup.

The early years of the Advanced Class did not see many teams at all motivated enough to compete in the Open Class while they were still the same weekend amateurs as in the year when they won the Advanced Class competition. Team Frost, winner in 1999, was the first team coming back to compete with two new members in the Open Class of 2002. Teiwaz, winner in 2000, did the same a year later, also with a very different lineup.

The situation began to change when Mass Defiance won the Advanced Class competition in 2005. The New England team came back year after year to compete in the Open Class, and other Advanced Class winners began to follow the Mass Defiance example. The MD members obviously knew and accepted that they cannot win the Open Class, as well, and just enjoyed the competition in the "Big League".

The USPA Nationals 2007 was the first event where more than one former Advanced Class winner came back for the Open Class competition. Arizona Divewerkz, 2006 champion, joined Mass Defiance in the Open Class of 2007. That was the year when Mass Defiance scored the still standing US "amateur record" of 19.3 average.

The next step happened in 2010 when the latest Advanced Class champion of 2009, SDC Furies XP, came back in the Open Class, together with 2008 winner SDC Rhythm XP. Mass Defiance, with Scott Latinis filling in for Jim Rees, was still around under a different name (Amphibious Attack Tigers) and made for the third former Advanced Class winner in the Open Class of 2010. Carolina Turbo XP won the Advanced Class the same year and was ready to move up into the team's third category in three years.

And that's exactly what happened at the USPA Nationals 2011. Turbo came back with a new team member and joined the former Advanced Class champions SDC Rhythm XP and SDC Furies XP, while the four original Mass Defiance members were scrambled all over the Open Class leaderboard (DNR, Team Captain) and the judging room (Jim Rees). Spaceland Lite can join the group of former Advanced Class champions in the Open Class next year in Eloy.