posted Dec 15th, 2004 - Arizona Blade was already far ahead of the AAA Class field after the first two rounds of the NSL Championship 2004. However, the competition right behind the leader was very close. The international guest team Punky Fish and Florida Skydiving League 2004 champion DeLand Scape went neck-to-neck throughout the first three rounds of the meet.

Punky Fish, with DeLand Majik's world champion Gary Smith (Point), Ole Petter Hjelle (Tail) of the Norwegian national team Arcteryx, Bert Hajee (Center Inside) and Paul Hofstee (Center Outside) from the Netherlands, was one point ahead of Scape after round one. DeLand Scape, with Pete Allum (Center Inside), Michael Biederman (Point), Brian Johnson (Tail), Rusty Lewis (Center Outside) and Ray Dutch on video, won round two of this race by one point.

Both teams pushed each other to the best performances and scores of both team careers. Round three was the peak of this natural performance enhancement. Punky Fish and DeLand Scape together tied the highest score of the round with 22 points and both beat the leader from Arizona by one point. Blade lost one point due to a video penalty and posted the official score of 21 points for round three. Punky Fish and DeLand Scape were still tied in second place after three rounds.

DeLand Scape was formed in 2004. Pete Allum, one of the most experienced competitors and coaches in the history of Formation Skydiving competition, decided to join this group of highly talented competitors in DeLand, his new hometown. Allum trained and competed with the British national 4-way team XL for several years, mostly in Sebastian, before XL discontinued after the fourth place at the World Championship of Formation Skydiving in 2003. He moved to DeLand in 2003 and has been working as a full-time coach. His former XL teammate, Thomas Hughes, competed with Arizona Blade at the NSL Championship 2004, as well.

Brian Johnson was a Touch of Majik member years ago and is working as a 4-way coach, as well. He also created the "Best of DeLand Majik DVD", which is still available in the NSL Shop. Rusty Lewis and Michael Biederman have both been SkyVenture instructors for several years and have been looking for opportunities to join teams on a higher performance level for a while. Lewis competed with Teiwaz at a few meets of the Florida Skydiving League, while Biederman trained and competed with DeLand TBD in 2003.

DeLand Scape with Pete Allum as the most experienced member boosted each other team member's scoring level to new heights. The 17.8 meet average at SkyQuest 2004 concluded the progression of the 2004 season (16.0 - 14.0 - 16.1 - 17.8) very successfully. It was still not enough to fend off the very experienced international team Punky Fish over the ten rounds of the NSL Championship 2004. The duel between these two teams ended up with a 5-point advantage for Punky Fish.

Bert Hajee and Paul Hofstee had already competed with two Dutch competitors as Punky Fish at the Dutch Championship 2004. The Dutch line-up of the team posted a 16.6 meet average at the Tomscat Trophy in June 2004 and showed clearly that this team is currently the best one in the Netherlands. However, Punky Fish still had no plans to compete as the Dutch national team at the world meet in Croatia this year. Instead, Hofstee and Hajee had already completed their plans to attend SkyQuest 2004 in November, once again with an international line-up.

Punky Fish had already competed at several NSL events in the past. Founders Hofstee and Hajee have been around for several years. The team name stands for the standard of player coaching combinations. Hofstee and Hajee created their two-on-two line-up years ago and moved their skills up to a very high level of 4-way competition. Using mostly American and Norwegian world class player coaches Punky Fish attended several meets of the Florida Skydiving League over the years and also competed at the NSL Championship at SkyQuest 2002.

This year, the Punky Fish plans included a training camp in DeLand prior to the competition at Fantasy of Flight. The plans worked out very well. The team was ready to have fun and to compete on the highest possible level without too much competition pressure. Result was the 18.3 meet average after ten rounds at the NSL Championship 2004. Round three of the meet can now be viewed on NSL-TV. Enjoy the show.