posted Dec 20th, 2004 - Round four of the NSL Championship 2004 is now on NSL-TV. The Danez, national 4-way team of Denmark, present the sequence of this round. The Danish champion combined a November training camp in DeLand with the attendance at the 4-way competition of SkyQuest 2004. It was another stop on the Danish schedule to win world meet medals at the World Championship of Formation Skydiving in 2006. The NSL News had introduced the Danish 4-way project with previous articles.

The 2004 season had its ups and downs for the Danez. The ups include the fact that the team has become much stronger. The line-up with Rene Andreasen (Tail), Jesper Rasmussen (Center Outside), Jess Romer (Center Inside), Mikael Toft (Point) and Bjarke Gjodesen on video has increased the pace and lifted the team skills to a new level during the 2004 season. The downside of the 2004 season is the fact that the scores do not really reflect the progression yet.

The Danez began the 2004 competition season with the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2004 and a 15.4 meet average after ten rounds in DeLand. Next stop at the end of June was the Malevsky World Cup 2004 in Russia where the Danez posted an impressive 16.9 average after ten rounds.

This promising result was followed by a 16.3 average after ten rounds at the mandatory national championship of Denmark right after a tough return trip from Russia to Denmark. The lower scores did not bother the Danez since they could only do what the very tight schedule allowed the team to do at that time.

However, the high expectations after the Malevsky Cup still did not materialize at the world meet in Croatia when the Danez did not qualify for the final round and finished in 9th position with a 15.7 average after nine rounds. The team and coach Peter Allum knew that the team could do much better. The fall camp in DeLand and the NSL Championship offered the last opportunity of the 2004 season to post higher scores.

The competition at Fantasy of Flight was challenging enough for the Danish national team. Arizona Blade, Punky Fish and DeLand Scape with coach Pete Allum were tough opponents, and even Sebastian Teiwaz had already given the Danez a very close competition at the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2004, which ended up in a deadlock after ten rounds.

The performance of the Danez at SkyQuest 2004 was similar to the whole 2004 season. The Danish team kept up with the top contenders in several rounds and showed the potential that was built up in 2004. The performance was still not consistent enough to move up to the next scoring level. Result was another 16.3 meet average after ten rounds in November.

The scoring overview of the 2004 season (15.4 - 16.9 - 16.3 - 15.7 - 16.3) does not seem to be very impressive. However, the Danez are from being discouraged. In fact, the team members know that 2004 was just a building block and meant to lay the basic foundation for the 3-year plan. They expect to begin the 2005 season already on a higher scoring level. The FSL Shamrock Showdown 2005 in March will once again be the first challenge of the new season and most likely present new Danish scores on a higher level.

The Danish master plan still requires an adjustment. Coach Pete Allum and the Danez have parted their ways after a long period of discussion and thinking. Allum has become a member of Italy's national 4-way team, Sinapsi PD, which was confirmed shortly after SkyQuest 2004. The IPC rules allow the British citizen to join the Italian team at the next world meet under specific circumstances, which have been fullfilled by Allum.

The Danez and Allum first considered to continue working together and ignore a possible conflict of interests. Sinapsi PD with Pete Allum will once again be a top contender for medals in 2006. The same world meet is supposed to show the results of the Danish master plan with medals for the Danez in Germany. Finally, the parties decided to go their own ways, and the Danez have to look for a new head coach. The NSL News will follow up and report on the new Danish coaching plan as soon as information will be available. Enjoy the new round of NSL-TV.