posted Feb 8th, 2019 - The indoor competition season is still in full swing and will continue for many teams until World Challenge and FAI Indoor World Meet are over, while World Tunnel League and Indoor Cloud League events continue throughout the whole year.

The indoor season in the United States concludes usually with the Paraclete XP Indoor Championships in February, and the Shamrock Showdown in DeLand, Florida, has been the first outdoor competition for many years. However, it used to be the Valentine's Meet at Skydive Arizona in February that launched the U.S. outdoor season before the Shamrock Shamrock followed a month later.

The comeback of the Arizona Skydiving League that Eliana Rodriguez and Michelle Karamon initiated this year also brought the start of the outdoor season back to Eloy. The first 2019 event was held in January, and the February meet was completed last weekend.

The participants of the season opener were treated with free coaching and guidance by the two world class competitors and coaches, and current Arizona Airspeed member Mikhail Markine was supporting the event with his coaching and participation, as well.

Arizona Skydiving League - February 2019		1		2		3		4		5		6		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	1,8,10		M,19,12		E,14,A,B		K,22,13		D,11,21		7,18,20		Total	Avg
1	AZ Defiance	7	-2	12		13		9		11		10		62	10.3
2	Squidence	7		9		9	-1	9		9		9		52	8.7
3	Arizona Windfall	7		6		9		8		9		8		47	7.8
Rank	A Class	8,B		M,19		E,A,2		K,P,O		D,21		7,H		Total	Avg
1	Jerry's Kidz	7		8		9		8		7		10		49	8.2
2	Eggplant	6		5		8		9	-1	6		7	-1	41	6.8

It became even better at the February meet last weekend when one of the celebrities in the sport, Airspeed 4-way and 8-way world champion Craig Girard, showed up at Skydive Arizona to join Eliana Rodriguez and Michelle Karamon with their efforts to offer the teams the best possible meet environment.

Eliana Rodriguez and Michelle Karamon had just come back from New Hampshirewhere Michelle Karamon competed with her own team, Ranch 2nd Generation, and was player-coaching another lineup.

Organizer Ben Liston had invited Eliana Rodriguez as the meet coach for all teams who needed support and guidance at SkyVenture New Hampshire.

Craig Girard recently spends a lot of time with the Russian 8-way team from Tanay that he is moving to the top level in the world to become a gold medal contender at the FAI World Meet 2020 in Tanay. Russia's 8-way team had won silver in Australia 2018 and aims at winning the next set of Russian 8-way gold medals on home turf with the help of Craig Girard.

He was at home in Eloy last weekend and decided to join Eliana Rodriguez and Michelle Karamon at the DZ and help the teams with his vast amount of knowledge and experiences.

The teams had more than enough time to spend with the world class coaches, as it was a slow going last Saturday. The weather forced the teams to stay on the ground several times, and it became a long day. However, Eliana Rodriguez, Michelle Karamon and Craig Girard could use the time to get the teams well prepared.

Eventually, they even managed to complete all six rounds with all five teams, even though the working time in Round 2 and Round 3 had to be reduced when some of the teams did not get to full competition altitude of 10,500 ft.

Eliana Rodriguez said that many local 4-way competitors attended the meet once again, after showing up at the season opener in January. There were also several visitors from other regions in the United States. ShawnaRae Milano trained and competed with USPA Intermediate Class champion TSC Cadence last year and joined the Squidence lineup in Eloy. She is now training and competing with Christy Frikken's new Perris Force lineup.

Her Squidence team mate Keith Conner visited from California, as well. Arizona Windfall member John Sharrer had the longest trip to Eloy coming from Canada. Leanne and Tripp Schwab came from Colorado for the Eggplant February lineup. The next ASL meet is scheduled for March 23rd.