posted Mar 23rd, 2005 - The FSL Shamrock Showdown 2005 did not only have to offer world class skydiving and exciting competition. The event has also included the Skins Game ever since its inception in 2002. The Skins Game of the Shamrock Showdown is a special opportunity for all teams to win cash and prizes round by round.

The FSL Shamrock Showdown 2005 offered prizes for two categories: the overall winners of each class after the completion of all rounds, plus the Skins Game with prizes per round. The overall winners were determined by the scores before handicap, while the Skins Game prizes were given to the winners per round after handicap.

The collection of cash and prizes was the biggest in the history of the event. The cash jackpot totaled the amount of $3,450 after efforts by current and former DeLand Majik members and the NSL management to motivate event sponsors for cash contributions. Several in-kind sponsorships of product added great value to the whole Skins Game.

The main sponsor of the Grand Prize was Selection.com with Team Fastrax' Tail, John Hart, contributing $1,000 of cash for the winner of the AAA Class before handicap. The local realtor Maureen Kemp added $200 to the Grand Prize, and DeLand Fire was the lucky winner of a total of $1,200 for the first place in the AAA Class competition.

DeLand Fire collected more than only the cash for the Grand Prize. The DeLand team also won the Skins Game for round ten after handicap. Actually, DeLand Fire never had a handicap throughout the whole meet since the team always had or at least shared the lead.

However, the handicaps for all the other teams did not help in round ten when DeLand Fire delivered the master piece of the team's competition. The 23 raw points were even too much for the highest handicapped scores of 22.35 by DeLand Majik and 22.28 by TeiwaZhills. DeLand Fire added $300 from Go Fast Sports and 30 tunnel minutes from SkyVenture Orlando to the team's prize collection.

The team in second place of the AAA Class after ten rounds won $400 cash and three free team jumps, both provided by the host of the event, Skydive DeLand. The Golden Knights cannot accept prizes and generously donated $200 to the National Skydiving League. The other $200 of the prize for the second place were spent in the Perfect Spot, Skydive DeLand's bar restaurant. The Army team invited all competitors to enjoy free beer after the award ceremony and until the money would be used up. These Golden Knights' moves were greatly appreciated by the NSL and all teams and competitors.

$300 cash went to the team in third place of the AAA Class competition, Sinapsi PD from Italy. Performance Designs had provided this cash prize, which was now received by one of the PD sponsored teams.

There were also prizes for the winners of the AA Class and the A Class competition. Jamba (AA) and Zero Tolerance Miami (A) did not have much competition in their categories and gladly accepted the cash and prizes. Jamba received $200 from the DeLand Holiday Inn Convention Center and additional free room nights. DeLand Majik also donated one Majik DVD to each Jamba member.

The DeLand Holiday Inn had already offered their facilities to host the reception on Friday evening. Most of the participating teams visited the official opening ceremony in the hotel's Rhythm Street Pub at 6:00 p.m. Each team was introduced to the crowd and had the responsibility to draw one round of the competition.

Zero Tolerance Miami received $200 cash from the German company EADS, which is the main sponsor for the German national 4-way team. The EADS team joined the competition on Sunday after arriving in DeLand late on Saturday night and completed all ten rounds on one day. ZeroT also received certificates for discounted rooms at the DeLand Holiday Inn.

The Skins Game began officially in round four. The first three rounds did not have any prizes and were used to determine the handicaps for each team. The NSL Handicap System was applied, which was created by Dr. Joel Shugar and updated by Joe O'Connor. Each team's handicap was adjusted after each round to keep it as fair as possible.

Round four had $150 cash and a 50% team deal for the purchase of jump suits on stake, provided by Bev Suits. DeLand Majik had a very slow start into the competition after only 99 training jumps since the new line-up was completed. The situation after the first three rounds had DeLand Majik far behind the top three and tied in fourth place with Team Fastrax. Round four was the first better round for Majik and won the first Skins Game prize (Majik 25.87 - Arcteryx 25.79 - Golden Knights - 25.66).

Round five offered $200 cash, which was contributed by the local "Roseborough Travel Agency". The same round had also a visit to a local cafe on the award list. The Boston Gourmet Coffee House serves many local and visiting skydivers downtown DeLand and provided a team set of T-shirts, plus five $20 coupons for the next team visit at the cafe.

The Swedish national 4-way team "42" had its strongest rounds at the right time. Team 42 took the Skins Game prize for round five with 24.29 points, slightly ahead of Sinapsi PD (24.12) and the German team Remscheid (23.70). Sweden's 42 kept the momentum up in the next round six and won another skin. This time, 30 minutes of SkyVenture Orlando tunnel time and one Pro Track, provided by the Danish company Larsen & Brusgaard, were added to the Swedish collection of prizes.

The local manufacturer of marinades, dips, salad dressings, salsas, key lime juice, honey, steak sauces and hot sauces, Island Grove, spiced up the Swedish sweep of rounds five and six with a generous gift box. Team 42 won this round with 24.29 points, clearly ahead of the Glitter Pimps in second place with 22.43 points.

The Swedish momentum came to an end after round six, and the Skins Game had a new winner in round seven. The Austrian team Monkey Circus had its peak in this round and received one Neptune and five beautiful team jackets from Alti-2. Island Grove added another gift box to the prize for this round. It was a close call. The Austrian team won with 20.21 points after handicap, followed by Sweden 42 with 20.09 points and TeiwaZhills with 20.04 points.

Round eight and nine had more cash on stake. $200 and 35% discounts for gear were contributed by the Relative Workshop in round eight. Larsen & Brusgaard added a second Pro Track to the Skins Game and the prizes for the winner of this round. TeiwaZhills had the team's best jumps beginning in round eight. The last round on Saturday would also be the last jump for Richard "Rambo" Calledare who would not be able to come back for TeiwaZhills on Sunday morning. He left with the first skin for his team after one of the two slowest rounds of the meet.

One of the original Teiwaz members, Kurt Gaebel, stepped in for his team Sunday morning, and TeiwaZhills was able to continue what the team had started in round eight. Another skin was added to the TeiwaZhills collection. $300 were the cash award for round nine, sponsored by Sun Path Products, and Fused Image added a set of five beautiful necklaces to this round's prizes. Doug Park's girlfriend Yvonne makes these necklaces and other jewelry.

DeLand Fire won the last skin for round ten, as mentioned earlier.

The Shamrock Showdown management will begin early to collect prizes for the Skins Game of the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2006, which is scheduled for March 18 - 19, 2006. Goal is to keep the cash and prize collection growing every year.