posted Dec 31st, 2011 - Several guest teams competed at the USPA Nationals 2011, and the NSL News mentioned earlier that it became challenging to read the leaderboard, especially in USPA's Advanced Class competition where several guest teams crowded the Top 10 positions.

There were two different kinds of guest teams. Black Cat from Russia and the four teams from Qatar (Tigers, Falcons) and Dubai (Red, Gold) were traditional guest teams from other countries who visited for the competition experience. Other teams were actually US lineups with team members who are not eligible for USPA medals.

The NSL News begins the coverage of the guest teams with the visitors from other countries, today specifically with the teams from Qatar and Dubai.

They are not new to the NSL News after competing at earlier events and additional feature stories. It seems as if there is a serious effort going on in Arabia to become a part of world class Formation Skydiving competition.

USPA Nationals 2011		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	Advanced Class	M,5,13	21,14,22	12,20,D	11,Q,16	O,C,10,K	P,L,19,8	18,6,2	15,9,G	7,F,17	A,B,N,J,3	Total	Avg
1	Qatar Tigers	13	13	12	14	14	13	12	15	18	16	140	14.0
4	Qatar Falcons	12	8	11	13	14	14	11	15	16	16	130	13.0
7	Dubai Red	14	9	10	11	13	13	12	15	14	15	126	12.6
12	Dubai Gold	11	9	8	10	11	9	11	11	12	13	105	10.5

It began several years ago when a large delegation of police and military personnel from Qatar scheduled a training camp in DeLand. It was a start from scratch with AFF training at the very beginning.

Robert Chromy, Teiwaz member and veteran Formation Skydiving and 4way coach, worked with the guests from Qatar through the beginner status, together with other DeLand staff.

He also coached most of them in the early stages of 4way Formation Skydiving before Solly Williams supervised a selection process to form the current Tigers and Falcons lineups and guide them to the next level. The two Qatar national teams have moved up into the AAA Class dive pool and are now the top performers on the Arabian Peninsula.

The 4way project in Dubai started later, and the two national teams, guided by Eliana Rodriguez (Dubai Gold) and Craig Girard (Dubai Red), are now trying to catch up with the Qatar teams.

This internal Arabian race will probably push both countries to the top level of 4way competition very soon, as long as the financial support by the monarchic governments in both countries continues.

3rd Dubai Championship 2011		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7	Round 8	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	L,C,P,20	K,M,6,15	G,19,H,11	2,10,E	13,9,5	O,7,3	B,21,16	4,1,22	Total	Avg
5	Qatar Tigers	18	15	14	13	10	18	16	11	115	14.4
6	Qatar Falcons	17	15	14	12	14	14	14	12	112	14.0
10	Dubai Red	14	10	10	11	10	12	9	8	84	10.5
11	Dubai Gold	13	10	11	10	8	10	11	10	83	10.4

All four teams have become very competitive in 4way and are also adding 8way competition to their Formation Skydiving repertoire.

Their internal Arabian competition brought them together two times this year, first at the USPA Nationals 2011 and then again at the 3rd Dubai Championship 2011.

The scores at the USPA Nationals show the Dubai teams closer to the Qatar teams than a month later in Dubai. There is a very simple reason for that.

Former player coaches Eliana Rodriguez and Craig Girard have now left the active lineups and are coaching the teams from an external position. Naturally, the scores dropped between Eloy and Dubai.

The Qatar Falcons have this step still waiting for them, as German Paratec-Saar player coach Max Thiele has been pushing the team. The Qatar Tigers have been on their own for a while.

The same Arabian battle between the same four teams will take place again at the Shamrock Showdown 2012, and an 8way competition will most likely be added, as well. It would be the first Arabian 8way competition in history...