posted Sep 19th, 2010 - Teams in Germany came together for the last time this year. The German Cup this weekend served as an event to help evaluate the situation of the German national teams regarding the selection for the internatinal events in 2011. There was no German national championship this year, and the German Cup 2010 substituted for the DFV Cup of the past years.

The weather played out very well, and the competition was completed on Sunday morning. The German national 4-way team at the World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2010, Paratec-Saar, did not attend the meet, and the race was on between three runner-ups of the past years and earlier meets in 2010.

The winner, Chiceads, is a combination of three former members of the German national 4-way and 8-way team EADS (Olaf Biedermann, Goran Meyer, Thomas Spielvogel) and Sylvia Maier of the former national team in the female category, the Chicas. Chiceads attended the team's second meet after a 2nd place at the Nuggets Cup 2010 behind X-Ray Remscheid.

German Cup 2010		Round1	Round2	Round3	Round4	Round5	Round6	Round7	Round8	Round9	Round10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	C,4,F,10	H,P,3,17	O,A,22,J	E,15,8	2,20,18	G,Q,12,21	13,5,L	N,1,14	B,M,6,D	K,16,7	Total	Avg
1	Chiceads	17	19	19	14	13	15	16	15	21	16	165	16.5
2	Final Four Remscheid	16	19	15	15	13	15	14	13	23	18	161	16.1
3	ISB Air	17	17	19	14	13	17	15	13	15	16	156	15.6
4	Usual Suspects	10	14	15	12	10	14	14	11	18	14	132	13.2
5	SkyFive	12	14	13	12	9	10	10	9	16	10	115	11.5
6	Neva	10	13	11	9	9	10	11	9	17	11	110	11.0
7	Un4Seen	10	9	12	9	9	9	9	9	14	11	101	10.1
7	Phos4 Kassel	9	11	12	9	9	10	7	9	15	10	101	10.1
9	Team 4 + 1	10	10	10	8	8	8	7	7	12	7	87	8.7

X-Ray Remscheid missed the German Cup 2010 as well and opened the door for Final Four Remscheid and the national team in the female category, ISB Air. X-Ray member Uli Sehrbrock once again filled Final Four's Center Outside slot for Henning Stumpp who is still recovering from some health issues.

It was a great race, and the three teams pushed each other round by round. Final Four Remscheid had a slow start and woke up too late (Rounds 9 and 10) to make up for the earlier losses. The Chiceads 4-way and 8-way veterans carried it home safely by four points.

ISB Air, Germany's young shooting star team in the female 4-way category, challenged Chiceads and Final Four Remscheid both for seven rounds and was only three points behind the leader and five points ahead of Final Four after Round 7. The fast sequence of Round 8 changed the Top 3 standings instantly, not in ISB Air's favor.

World Meet 2010		Round1	Round2	Round3	Round4	Round5	Round6	Round7	Round8	Round9	Round10	Total	Avg
Rank	Female 4-way	10,7,12	3,11,5	J,M,Q,P,L	19,1,13	N,18,20	K,17,8	2,15,H	4,D,6	O,E,9,G	22,B,16	Total	Avg
1	Aerokart Deep Blue	20	19	47	18	19	20	21	21	32	19	236	23.6
2	Team Bodyflight	16	17	44	17	17	19	18	19	30	19	216	21.6
3	Spaceland Blue	17	14	38	15	16	15	17	15	29	12	188	18.8
4	ISB Air	16	15	39	13	13	15	16	14	28	11	180	18.0
5	Polaris	14	12	30	11	14	12	14	15	22	15	159	15.9
6	Prygalky	13	10	21	13	13	12	10	13	17	12	134	13.4
7	Sweden	9	7	20	9	11	8	11	11	16	-	102	11.3
8	China	9	9	17	5	6	6	11	8	15	-	86	9.6

ISB Air had impressed the 4-way community at the World Meet 2010 in Menzelinsk almost as much as the German 4-way team in the Open Class, Paratec-Saar. Sarah Hajooze (Point), Anne Heinrich (Tail), Susa Serra (Center Outside) and Pia Weingart (Center Inside) had forced the US team Spaceland Blue to work hard for the bronze medals (188 - 180).

The same lineup now came back to take on the other German 4-way teams at the German Cup 2010. ISB Air did not have any plans for the 2011 season after the completition of the World Meet 2010 in Menzelinsk. This weekend's showing may indicate that ISB Air continues next year.

Germany is the host of the World Cup 2011, and the German top teams will compete on home turf. In fact, the location of the World Cup 2011 is the home dropzone for the national team in the Open Class, Paratec-Saar.

NMP-PCH Hayabusa at the World Meet 2010 in Menzelinsk

An interesting aspect of the German Cup 2010 was the situation in the female category. Chiceads member Sylvia "Sia" Maier was a Chicas member for many years and before the former German national team stepped back and offered ISB Air the tickets to Russia.

The Chicas had won the national championships in 2009 over the three ISB Air members who competed for Incognito Leutkirch by then (Sarah Hajooze, Anne Heinrich, Pia Weingart). Incognito had challenged the Chicas a little bit more every year and were ready to take over the slot as the national team.

The other three Chicas members have not jumped much in the meantime, while Sylvia Maier joined the Chiceads lineup two times this year. Current ISB Air member Susa Serra was a Chicas member, as well, a few years ago. The reunion at the German Cup 2010 was a competitive one, and Sylvia Maier won this time.