posted Dec 7th, 2006 - The 2006 competition season has just been completed in the USA, while one more event is still on the NSL News agenda. Brazil holds its national championship this weekend.

The event management in the South American country, which also runs an affiliated 4-way league, has asked the NSL to post the competition draw and the scores on the NSL website. The NSL News will follow up with the meet story as soon as the information is available.

Several teams have already asked for dates of the 2007 competition schedule. The NSL headquarters is currently working on the basic outline of the whole 2007 season, which will include a few new and exciting projects. Most inquiries were related to the popular season opener of the Florida Skydiving League, the annual FSL Shamrock Showdown in March.

The whole history of the 4-way competition and the "Skins Game" with its special awards format was laid out in the NSL News article on March 13, 2006, shortly before this year's event. Many world class teams have used the opportunity of a high-profile competition at the beginning of the season over the six years since the inception of the event in 2002.

In fact, there is a very good chance that the participating teams and competitors may share the jump plane with the next 4-way world champions and/or other medal winners. DeLand Majik won the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2004 (Archives > 2004 > Leagues > Florida) in March and then the gold medals at the World Championship of Formation Skydiving in September in Croatia (Archives > 2004 > Leagues > International).

Italy's Sinapsi PD competed at the Shamrock Showdown 2004, as well, and missed the bronze medals in Croatia by one single point the same year.

The FSL Shamrock Showdown 2006 featured a world class competition between Sinapsi PD, DeLand Fire, Norway's Arcteryx and Team Fastrax. DeLand Fire turned out to become the new 4-way world champions, Sinapsi PD won the bronze medals at the World Meet 2006 in Germany five months later, Arcteryx placed 5th. Fastrax is one of the best 4-way teams in the world at the end of this year.

The Shamrock Showdown events of the other years were not any less exciting compared to the World Meet years. DeLand Majik and Airspeed Vertical posted 22.6 and 22.3 averages at the inaugural Shamrock Showdown in 2002 and were separated by only two points after the 10-round event. Sebastian XL, Sinapsi PD and Genesis were also in the field of 14 AAA Class teams, with 11 teams completing all ten rounds.

It was still again a 6-round competition with the 10-round option in 2003. The Golden Knights competed in DeLand in March and won the silver medals at the World Meet 2003 in France in September.

DeLand Majik won the Shamrock Showdown on home turf but was not the US national team by then. However, Majik would win the USPA Nationals in 2003 and travel to Croatia in 2004. Sinapsi PD placed 5th at the World Meet in 2003.

The FSL Shamrock Showdown 2005 was the beginning of the season where the USPA Nationals would be the qualifyer for the World Meet 2006. DeLand Fire won in March and then in Perris after a jump-off with the Golden Knights. The Army team had already competed at the Shamrock Showdown in March, as well, and finished three points behind the home team.

The world class field at the Shamrock Showdown 2005 also included Sinapsi PD, DeLand Majik's new line-up, Team Fastrax, Belgium's Spa Hayabusa, Norway's Arcteryx and several other international teams.

The Shamrock Showdown 2007 will not be much different, as teams already include the competition in the 2007 schedule and travel agenda. The event is once again scheduled for the St. Patrick's Day weekend, which provided the idea for the original name: March 17 - 18, 2007.

NSL and Skydive DeLand plan to make the event even more exciting for participants and spectators. Canopy Piloting and 40-ways might be added to the line-up of events on the same weekend. Additional prize money for the Skins Game of the 4-way competition could be a result of the additional efforts.