posted May 28th, 2018 - The first combined outdoor leaderboard of the year with a synchronized competition draw brought together teams from three different locations. Nine teams competed at the outdoor season opener of the Midwest Skydiving League at Skydive Chicago, six teams for the Northern Plains Skydiving League at Skydive Twin Cities, and six more teams of the Czech Skydiving League turned it into an international meet weekend.

The three AAA Class teams from the Czech Republic completed all ten rounds in Prostejov, while the two meets in the United States were scheduled for only six rounds, which were all completed in Illinois and Minnesota, as well.

On the AAA Class leaderboard, SDC Jetstream Tango XP was back with a new lineup at Skydive Chicago. Original members Hank Allen and Peter Eng, who had competed with their team at the USPA Nationals 2016 and 2017, have joined forces this year with Michael Hare and Greg Malter. Both have previous 4-way experiences, little in the AAA Class world though.

SDC Rhythm XP member Steve Lefkowitz, who organized the competition at Skydive Chicago, said that Greg Malter was back after a 2-year break from 4-way competition. He also had only AA Class experiences before joining Jetstream Tango. The new lineup managed to outscore one of the three Czech teams in the AAA Class at the first meet this year.

NSL Meet Weekend May 26th, 2018			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		P,7,F,2		18,19,14		O,H,11,G		9,K,L,N		10,5,E		13,3,16		4,22,Q		J,1,6		C,20,A,M		B,D,21,17		Total	Avg
1	HF Flying Circus	CZ	18		13		17	-1	17	-1	11		10		11		9		17		15		138	13.8
2	Sky....	CZ	13		8		12	-1	14		8	-2	8		6	-3	11		12		11		103	10.3
3	SDC Jetstream Tango XP	US	11		6		9		9		7		5		-		-		-		-		47	7.8
4	Accord	CZ	6	-4	6	-1	9		7		6		5		9		10		11	-1	9		78	7.8

HF Flying Circus won the AAA Class competition with a new team record average in AAA Class outdoor competition. It is actually a regularly occurring situation for the Czech team, as the NSL News has reported it several times when Flying Circus improved their own previous record numbers.

It is not only a usual new record number for Flying Circus. It is in fact the highest outdoor average that the team has posted since their first outdoor competition in 2015, including all four categories.

This is different compared to indoor competition, where the same team has posted their own 25.6 record number on the Rookie Class leaderboard in April 2015.

This 25.6 average might serve as one of the next indoor goals for Flying Circus, who have a 22.2 AAA Class average in the records after this year's nine rounds at the World Challenge.

However, the outdoor goal has to be different, as last weekend's 13.8 average beats all other previous outdoor averages in all categories.

Czech Nationals 2017		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	19,E,D,K	F,15,3	Q,14,C,12	20,O,4	J,16,G,6	N,10,P,L	H,21,17	13,9,B	11,5,7	2,1,M	Total	Avg
1	HF Bad Boys	16	12	11	11	14	14	14	13	12	13	130	13.0
2	HF Flying Circus	10	9	9	11	10	10	12	13	9	12	105	10.5
3	Hvezdy	10	8	8	9	10	10	9	11	8	9	92	9.2
4	HF Skycentrum	6	9	7	7	10	9	7	9	8	7	79	7.9
5	Accord	9	7	5	7	5	6	8	6	5	7	65	6.5
6	Relative Team	6	7	4	3	7	7	7	6	7	7	61	6.1

The NSL News has pointed out a few times how HF Flying Circus has consistently closed the indoor gap toward HF Bad Boys, and the situation is not much different in outdoor competition. In fact, it might become very dangerous for the reigning Czech 4-way champions this year.

HF Bad Boys won last year's national 4-way title with a 13.0 average, and HF Flying Circus was not a threat by then. Last weekend's 13.8 average changes the situation dramatically, and this year's national championships could feature a serious showdown for the AAA Class top spot.

The 13.8 average could have been easily a 14+ finish without a bad exit in Round 8, which would also challenge the Bad Boys 14.3 winning average of 2016.

The showdown will once again include the whole Klapka family. Flying Circus member Jakub Klapka will challenge his father Jan Klapka, who is in the same tail slot for HF Bad Boys. Father and son will also see wife and mother Jirina Klapkova on the AAA Class leaderboard, who is now competing with the Sky... team.