posted Nov 24th, 2006 - The 4-way part of SkyQuest 2006 was once again the NSL Championship. The event came back to Skydive DeLand where the National Skydiving League took off with its first championship in 1998. In fact, the event was held for the first three years at the same location. SkyQuest was created in 2001, and the NSL Championship moved to Fantasy of Flight.

The SkyQuest 2006 participants were very happy to have the event hosted by a skydiving center. Fantasy of Flight was an exciting location for people who have not been there before. However, the museum lost its attraction for the SkyQuesters after a while, and the main focus for the participants is on the quality of the skydives.

SkyQuest 2006 went to DeLand, and the NSL Championship was back to where it all began, except that the whole event had grown to a much larger size. 15 participants of three 4-way teams came to DeLand in 1998, 140 registered participants visited the same location last weekend.

The three teams of the NSL Championship 1998 were the league champions from Florida (DeLand Genesis), Georgia (Mr. Pink) and Texas (Convergence). The six teams that competed last weekend came from Colorado (Air Force CAD and 7XY), Florida (Teiwaz Lake Wales, Optic Nerve), Italy (Fast + Furious) and Virginia (DC3).

Florida had completed its first and inaugural league season in the winter of 1996/1997 and continued from then on. Georgia and Texas launched their first and inaugural season in 1998, and the National Skydiving League invited the league winners to the championship event in November 1998.

The Florida Skydiving League was not represented by the winner of the first test season in 1997. DeLand Equanimity, Sebastian XL, DeLand Basic 4, Sebastian 4NB, DeLand VNE and the Z-Boyz competed at seven different 4-way competitions in the winter of 1996/1997. DeLand Genesis was not a part of the Florida 4-way scene by then.

Treat for the champions in 1998

The Genesis members, Shannon Pilcher, Ian Bobo, Kyle Collins, David vanGreuningen and Eric Taylor moved from Georgia to DeLand in 1998 and qualified as the Florida Skydiving League champion of the 1998 season for the first invitational NSL Championship the same year.

It was a treat for Genesis, Mr. Pink and Convergence. SkyVenture Orlando sponsored the event and covered all expenses for the three league champion teams, including competition jumps, registration fees and accommodation. Even travel and rental cars were covered. Five guest teams competed, as well.

NSL Championship 1998		League	Rd1	Rd2	Rd3	Rd4	Rd5	Rd6	Rd7	Rd8	Rd9	Rd10	Total	Av.
Rank	AAAClass	League	9-G-11	21-10-18	24-20-1	O-B-15-17	23-14-M	16-19-6	2-A-H-P	5-4-3	Q-13-12	D-8-K-C	Total	Av.
1	DeLand Genesis	FSL	13	11	14	16	11	9	16	12	11	11	124	12.4
2	Z-Spot	Guest	15	9	11	15	10	11	13	10	12	11	117	11.7
3	Frost	Guest	14	10	10	13	12	10	15	11	7	14	116	11.6
4	Convergence	TSL	10	10	9	9	9	9	11	9	9	9	94	9.4
5	Fluid Motion	Guest	10	5	8	12	7	5	7	7	11	10	82	8.2
6	Optic Nerve	Guest	9	5	10	9	8	8	11	7	4	8	79	7.9
7	Mr. Pink	GSL	7	1	4	10	8	7	10	6	6	9	68	6.8
8	Space Center FX	Guest	21	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	21	2.1

Rounds 1 - 6

The NSL News of 1998 reported:

After a great start in Round 1, Space Center FX had to quit jumping, due to the illness of Dawn English. She just could not go any further. However, FX still hung out and helped the other teams as much as possible. DeLand Genesis had to replace Kyle Collins with Rob Larsen, a DeLand VNE veteran. The team is working its way through ups and downs towards an undisputed NSL Championship. Sebastian XL - actual FSL champion 1998 - canceled the meet since the team had to replace Lee Love. Z-Spot is lurking at the runner-up position after six rounds, just three points behind DeLand Genesis. Frost is the only team with two-digit scores at each round, just enough for the third place. So far...

Rounds 7 - 10

With more beautiful Florida fall weather, the meet was finished at 2 pm. DeLand Genesis never got in trouble although the team performed well below their normal performance level. Z-Spot and Frost gave each other a race over ten rounds with no mercy. Z-Spot finished one point ahead in second place with 11.7 average. Will this be good enough to win the Advanced Class competition at the USPA Nationals? Another race went on between Fluid Motion and Optic Nerve. Round nine separated these two teams as much as ZSpot and Frost.

Texas Convergence and Georgia Mr. Pink settled in their positions. Convergence with almost a 10-point average will be in medal contention at the USPA Nationals. Mr. Pink gained a lot of competition experience at their first out-of-state competition on a higher stage. All teams were very pleased about the perfect opportunity for a last competition practice before the USPA Nationals.

Optic Nerve in 1998 and 2006

It is one of the most interesting aspects that Optic Nerve competed at the NSL Championship 1998 and also at the NSL Championship 2006. Dr. Joel Shugar and Scott Keeler had Sally Stewart and Arturo Arroya in the 1998 line-up. Gary Smith and Shannon Pilcher competed with Optic Nerve last weekend.

Gary Smith was already a competitor of the Florida Skydiving League in 1996/1997. He was a team member of DeLand Equanimity, the South African national 4-way team that won the bronze medals at the World Meet in 1997. Solly Williams was his partner in the team's center, and he judged the NSL Championship 2006 last weekend in DeLand.

Pete Allum was the other 4-way event judge at SkyQuest 2006. His former team, the British national 4-way team Sebastian XL, competed throughout the first season of the Florida Skydiving League in 1996/1997, as well. Sebastian XL actually qualified as the FSL 1998 champion for the first NSL Championship 1998 but had to cancel. DeLand Genesis took the slot.

There will be more stories to come and cover last weekend's event and the history of the NSL Championship. The NSL is currently working on a plan to invite the qualified teams once again for a sponsored trip to the NSL Championship 2007. The qualification rules will be announced as soon as the plans are finalized.