posted Feb 19th, 2007 - Tim Wagner, Omniskore's former webmaster, had a comeback last weekend. He was the Chief Judge at the Valentine's Meet 2007, and he also described himself as the "humble assistant to Jan Meyer", who is now in charge for Omniskore's hardware and software support.

T2 commented that the participation at the Valentine's Meet "isn't very high this year". The NSL News became interested in the general progression of each year's season opener and evaluated the numbers of teams since 1998. The conclusion is similar compared to the progression of the sport in general: there is an upswing for the 4-way event.

Last weekend's 13 teams in Eloy is not a very high number compared to the record participation of 27 teams in 1998. However, it is higher than the number of participating teams in the last three years.

The situation at the beginning of the 2007 season is also very different compared to the good old days of the late 90's. Valentine's Meet and USPA Nationals were the only relevant 4-way competitions available for teams and competitors throughout the whole skydiving season, while the rest was training only.

The National Skydiving League was formed with a very low level of participation in 1998 (Florida, Georgia and Texas). The league grew very quickly and became more popular, year-by-year. Teams and competitors increasingly used the growing number of opportunities for great competition practice and experience, along with shorter travel distances and easier efforts.

The additional opportunities for meet practice and fun 4-way events apparently had an unfortunate side effect on the participation at the Valentine's Meet. The number of teams decreased each year and reached the bottom in 2006 with a total number of 10 teams in February.

Tim Wagner already served the Formation Skydiving community with Omniskore in the record year of 1998. He remembers that the Valentine's Meet was a very busy event. However, the attractive event in Eloy is obviously past rock bottom, as the numbers of participation over the last ten years show. The Valentine's Meet might be back on track toward better numbers.

Success in Eloy last weekend could also be measured by the quality of the team performances, which instantly lifts the Valentine's Meet to new record levels. The NSL News preview of the competition, published on February 15, mentioned that the 2006 event was on the highest scoring level in history.

The 2006 records are already history. The new Airspeed Odyssey line-up (Eliana Redriguez, Craig Girard, Andy Delk, Mark Kirkby, Will Pesek on video) launched the 2007 season on the highest 10-round average level in the team's history. The 22.2 average at last weekend's Valentine's Meet already ties the current Odyssey record average, posted at the FAI World Cup 2005 in Eloy.

The scoring level was also higher for the teams in 2nd and 3rd place compared to the Valentine's Meet 2006, which was only a 6-round competition. The NSL News had introduced the new French national 4-way team with the story on February 1. The new line-up (Guillaume Bernier, Mathieu Bernier, Julien Degen, Jeremie Rollet) was in Eloy for a winter training camp, and coach Marin Ferré, former French 4-way world champion himself, sent his young team into the first race with Airspeed Odyssey. The NSL News will follow up on this world-class competition as soon as the meet videos will be available.

Last year's team in 3rd place, Fastrax, finished the 6-round meet with a 20.2 average. Perris Fury was in 4th place in 2006 with a 18.7 average. This year, the Perris team followed up on its high goals and ambitions already at the first meet of the season and posted a 20.3 average after the ten rounds of the Valentine's Meet.

The new Arizona Directe line-up (Gary Beyer, Kirk Campbell, John Eagle, Samer Haija, Gordon Lindsay on camera) did not hold back at the first meet of the 2007 season, as well. The 17.7 average after six rounds is the highest meet average for any AZ Directe line-up in the team's history.

Arizona Divewerkz and the Italian Spin Team did not open the 2007 season with record averages. Both teams had posted higher scores in 2006 and are only at the beginning of the 2007 season with their training efforts, while the three top teams had already completed several training sessions before the Valentine's Meet.

The Russian team Crossroads and Texas Havoc have new line-ups, and the NSL News will follow up with more details later. The most exciting AA Class race will also get more attention as soon as additional information will be available. Two A Class teams completed the field and will soon be introduced, as well.