posted Jul 12th, 2004 - The dubbing and uploading procedure in the NSL on-line office at the IPC Anton Malevsky Memorial World Cup 2004 had become more a routine after the first two rounds of the competition in Stupino. The NSL-TV had missed some of the teams' videos in the earlier rounds, and round three was the first one where all 21 teams were covered. It was also the first round where some of the lower scoring teams were featured with their videos on NSL-TV, including AlfaFox from the Ukraine and Hudicki from Slovenia.

This does not mean that these teams did not recieve any attention on site and by the NSL News coverage. In fact, especially the Ukrainian team of the women's class was one of the most popular teams in Stupino. The color of their jump suits was not the only reason for their eye-catching appearance. The NSL News also discovered the most comfortable and technically well advanced creepers in the Ukrainian possession.

The team consists of very low experienced individuals, Klyazniko Anastasia, Yakovleva Antonina, Koval'chuk Oksana, Zagorodniuk Olena and Gurba Stepan on video. AlfaFox was formed just a few weeks before the Malevsky World Cup and has a team manager and a sponsor. There was not much time for training. However, the team was still eager to collect their first experiences at this meet and represent their country, a former republic of the Sovietunion, in Russia. Alfafox ended up in last place with a 2.9 meet average.

The Ukrainian scores were on a low level. However, they were far from getting no attention. The team members were eager to improve the performance and scoring level during the meet and received a lot of help and advise from other experienced competitors. Rumors say that a bidding process for the coaching job got started once the first technical help was positively welcomed by the Ukrainian team and their manager.

Even before the help and the bidding process had begun, the team members and fans could not wait to watch the jumps of AlfaFox. The team videographer hurried into the NSL office every single time after dubbing the jump at the judging station and anxiously awaited the evaluation, while the team members watched the jumps on the big screen in the hangar, cheered by other fans, teams and competitors. Each scoring point was important for the team and accordingly celebrated. The seven points in round three were the highlight of the whole meet for Alfafox.

It was the only round where the Ukrainian team tied the score of another team. Slovenia Hudicki posted a 7.1 meet average after ten rounds and finished in the 20th position, right in front of AlfaFox. Both teams could easily be identified with their orange/red jump suits, which did not find a lot of support in the judging room. The fluorescent colors make it more difficult for the judges to see the formations. The two 4-way teams of the Russian 8-way team Evolution had red jump suits, as well. Hudicki actually scored nine points within working time in round three and lost two points due to a penalty situation.

Several staff people also visited from the Ukraine and cheered for their first national women's team at the Malevsky World Cup. The NSL News shared the office with Yulya Lysenko, the Executive Director of "Skydiver", a European Russian language magazine. Lysenko is from Kiev, Ukraine, and could not hide her excitement for the new all-female team from their home country. The next issue of the "Skydiver" will feature interviews and stories of the Malevsky Cup. The NSL News will hopefully get translated versions.

Round four of the Malevsky Cup will be featured tomorrow.