posted Jul 2nd, 2015 - The story on May 11th brought great news to teams who usually don't expect much of awards and prizes when they attend an indoor or outdoor competition.

The Clash of Champions at Inflight Dubai had announced a total of $33,000 cash prizes only for the A and AA Class competition this December.

A new update on June 16th then explained that Formation Skydiving Coordinator and Chief Judge Pete Allum and Meet Director Iain Scott Macdonald would apply a "sand-bagging rule" for these two categories:

"If your team (as an entirety) has previously won AA or A in a previous national skydiving championship or major tunnel competition, you can no longer compete in that category.

The meet director reserves the right to deny entry into AA or A category. Please contact the FS coordinator if you are unsure of your eligibility to enter a particular category."

The Sun Path Products NSL News took a closer look at the implications of the eligibility rule for A and AA Class competition at the Clash of Champions and found a good number of teams in those categories who would not be able to win a share of the cash jackpot.

In the meantime, the host gave the eligibility topic additional thoughts and came to the conclusion that winning "AA or A in a previous national skydiving championship or major tunnel competition" does not necessarily qualify a team automatically for the AAA/Open Class competition.

In fact, reigning champions in lower categories are often financially exhausted after putting a lot of effort into winning. They usually have to slow down, while other and new teams try to get to the top with fresh energy and better resources.

The challenge of the reigning champions by other ambitious teams is an exciting part of any competition in any sport.

There can also be significant differences between the winners of national championships or major tunnel competitions. Tahma from Finland won the country's national indoor championship with a 14.1 average in the A Class competition.

PB Fire, Team Rudi, Funzies, Vossvind Girls, Brebe and Brain Storming all finished with higher meet averages than Tahma at the World Challenge 2015 and would still be eligible for the cash prizes at the Clash of Champions.

Only the Flyspot Chicks, A Class winner in Bedford, and Finland's national A Class indoor champions could not win cash in Dubai.

There are other examples where the discrepancy of the eligibility status between teams in the same categories is too significant, and the host of the Clash of Champions decided to modify the "sand-bagging rule".

World Challenge 2015			Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	A Class		O,L,Q	4,21	P,F,H	K,J,E	N,M,B	C,2	19,A	G,D,6	8,9	7,8	Total	Avg
X	Flyspot Chicks	PL	25	12	35	25	31	16	15	15	14	15	203	20.3
2	PB FIRE	CZ	23	14	29	24	30	12	13	16	14	13	188	18.8
3	Team Rudi	BE	22	13	27	27	17	13	14	15	14	15	177	17.7
4	Funzies	DK	19	15	22	17	24	13	12	16	14	13	165	16.5
5	Vossvind Girls	NO	19	14	22	21	22	14	11	13	11	13	160	16.0
6	Brebe	IT	18	12	19	18	21	13	11	15	12	12	151	15.1
7	brain storming	IT	13	10	25	17	22	11	11	12	10	11	142	14.2
Finland Indoor 2015			Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	A Class		H,P,N	C,L,9	6,E	O,G,21	2,A	K,F,M	8,B	Q,19	4,7	D,J,19	Total	Avg
X	Tahma	FI	20	15	13	13	13	26	10	10	8	13	141	14.1

Pete Allum recently informed the Sun Path Products NSL News that the host of the event has re-defined the rule that specifies eligibility:

"6.7 The chief judge reserves the right to refuse entry into A or AA category based on the team's or individual's previous experience level.

Teams who have previously won A or AA competitions will have the opportunity to enter into the same category if they are currently competing at that category.

Entry into A or AA may be refused if the team appears to be of a much higher experience level and attempting to ‘sand bag’.

DEFINITION of 'Sand bag': A tactic used to hide or limit expectations of a team's or individual's strength in order to produce greater than anticipated results."