posted Jun 10th, 2023 - The 4-way Beginner Class, which is identical with the A Class of the National Skydiving League, was added to the format of the USPA National Championship for the first time at the 2021 event. Air Force Academy team Zorry won after the six scheduled rounds, Anion Flux XP won the new set of USPA silver medals. Air Force team Fury and CSC Constellation needed an extra round to break their tie for the bronze medals.

The new 4-way category attracted ten teams and was obviously very competitive right away. USPA decided to keep it as a part of the national championship after the test event and after the second time with six rounds a year later. Polling and feedback from teams and competitors encouraged USPA to add more rounds to the format of the category.

The A Class dive poll allows the creation of ten different rounds for a competition draw, and the USPA Nationals 2023 at Skydive Paraclete will be the first time that teams in the USPA's 4-way Beginner Class are scheduled for a 10-round competition.

Paraclete XP added the category to their indoor championship half a year after USPA's test event, and Dallas Valkyrie won the first A Class medals after the six indoor rounds at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2022. This year's indoor championship attracted twice as many teams who completed ten A Class rounds for the first time.

Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2023		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	A/Beginner Class	P,Q,21	4,9	G,7	C,O,K	2,E	F,8	B,D,6	L,J,A	H,N,M	19,6	Total	Avg
1	Going Low	10	9	11	12	11	13	11	11	12	8	108	10.8
2	Spice Girls	10	8	13	14	8	11	11	5	20	7	107	10.7
3	The Slayin' Luv Kicks	10	7	13	12	9	11	10	9	16	9	106	10.6
4	CSC Renegades	8	7	8	10	7	8	8	9	11	9	85	8.5
5	Rhandom Rhesilience	9	5	10	6	9	8	6	10	14	7	84	8.4
6	Last Minutemen	6	8	7	7	8	2	7	6	8	6	65	6.5

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Going Low - The Slayin' Luv Kicks at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2023

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The A Class competition in the 4-way Beginner category at this year's indoor championship could not have been much more competitive. The three medalists battled for the final positions throughout all ten rounds and ended up separated by two points, as the NSL News reported on April 10th.

The A Class winner, Going Low, did not continue as a team. However, Going Low members Fawn Fowler and Amaranth Aquarian, returning from the Paraclete XP event with two gold medals 4-way and 8-way, liked the indoor experience more than enough to make plans for the outdoor season, as well. They contacted two of their current team mates, Albert Etienne and videographer Billy Colwell already on the way back to Florida.

It would still take a little while until the final lineup of the 4-way team Zhills CitiZens would be complete and ready to start with training and competition. Brian Babernitch, who started jumping in October 2020, was Fawn Fowler's and Amaranth Aquarian's opponent at the indoor championship, where he finished in 3rd place with The Slayin' Luv Kicks. The lineup of the new team, CitiZens, was not complete yet when the Shamrock Showdown 2023 took place. However, Fawn Fowler and Amaranth Aquarian wanted to compete in 4-way again and joined former Anion Flux XP member Felipe Della Giustina's 4Action lineup just for the event at Skydive DeLand.

Shamrock Showdown 2023		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AA Class	14,O,7		C,9,11		4,2		Q,13,21		B,6,L		1,22		K,18,8		M,F,19		H,15,G		D,20,A		Total	Avg
1	Project Danny	7	-1	10		8		9		9	-1	6	-1	4	-1	8	-1	6	-2	8		75	7.5
2	4Action	5	-2	8	-1	7		6	-1	10		5		7		11		6	-1	7		72	7.2

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Project Danny - 4Action at the Shamrock Showdown 2023

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It turned out that especially the AA Class duel at the Shamrock Showdown, between Project Danny and 4Action, offered the next exciting competition for Fawn Fowler and Amaranth Aquarian, and the efforts of planning and completing the lineup of the CitiZens continued with even more inspiration.

Brian Babernitch, who had decided to learn more about 4-way and 8-way training and competition after a few years of freeflying and other skydiving activities, committed to the team plans. So did Billy Colwell, who actually considered to be in front of the camera with the team, even though he finally took the video slot.

Billy Colwell is actually the most experienced team member. He made his first jump on August 19th in 1980 at the age of 16 at the Fort Campbell Sport Parachute Club and continued through High School and College, then for ten more years until 1996 while he was a pilot in the U.S. Army. He returned to the sport in July 2017 and now joined the Zhills CitiZens on camera. The complete lineup of the new team finally started with indoor training at Paraclete XP and outdoor training at Skydive City. There is enough time to get to the performance level where they can once again be in contention for A Class medals - this time at the outdoor competition of the USPA Nationals in the 4-way Beginner category.