posted Jul 18th, 2002 - There are a lot of contemporary topics to cover, despite the worldwide break for Formation Skydiving competition, due to the corona virus crisis. SDC Rhythm XP's change in the lineup was the most recent breaking news, and the latest event update came from Europe, where the ESL Championship was finally canceled and rescheduled for 2021.

However, the NSL News will continue to fill in any news gaps with unpublished information from the past to present the history of Formation Skydiving competition since 1985 as completely as possible. This time, original Airspeed Vertical member Neal Houston is commenting the extremely competitive 4-way situation in 2002, when his own team, DeLand Majik and Golden Knights had to win the USPA Nationals to become the U.S. national 4-way for the FAI World Meet in 2003.

The three teams attended several different meets in 2002 before their showdown at the USPA Nationals, where the Golden Knights eventually won. Neal Houston also talked about his inside center slot, and he had some valuable advice for other 4-way competitors in the same slot. His all-time favorite inside center was Airspeed's two-time 4-way world champion Dan BC.

"Last month, the NSL News interviewed Golden Knights team captain John Hoover about the perspectives for the remainder of the 2002 season. This time, Airspeed member Neal Houston offers some insights about the countdown to the major events of this year. The interview was done today."

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NSL News interview with Neal Houston on 18 July 2002

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NSL News: Neal, how long have you been Airspeed Vertical's center inside?

Neal Houston: From the very beginning, including the tryout day, since January 16, 2000.

NSL News: Has this always been your slot in your previous teams, as well?

Neal Houston: No. I was always Outside Center, since 1995.

NSL News: Looking back, which teams did you compete with through your skydiving competition career?

Neal Houston: I was on the Canadian national team from 1983 to 1985. Perris NRG 1995, Dallas Heat 1996, Arizona Edge 1997 - 1998, Generation FX 1999 and Airspeed 2000 to present.

NSL News: Were you born in Canada? Neal Houston: yes. NSL News: What did you do between 1985 and 1995?

Neal Houston: I moved to California in 1986 to take an offer to be on the Coors Skydiving Team. I also started focusing mostly on a career at Oakley and less on skydiving but was still involved with Coors doing a lot of demos. Some other significant events for me until 1992 were being in the filming of "From Wings Came Flight" in 1986 - 1987, being on the Seoul Olympic Rings dive in 1988 and the 200-way record in 1992. From 1992 to 1995 I only did about 200 jumps.

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Shamrock Showdown 2002			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		12,H,2	J,L,G,D,P	6,Q,C,B	K,N,7,16	F,A,14,M	5,13,15	18,3,10	9,19,18	17,4,22	11,O,21	Total	Avg
1	DeLand Majik	US	19	34	31	23	22	20	17	21	18	21	226	22.6
2	Airspeed Vertical	US	19	34	28	24	23	19	17	19	19	21	223	22.3
3	Sebastian XL	UK	17	27	22	20	23	16	14	17	17	18	191	19.1
4	Sinapsi PD	IT	14	27	18	21	21	14	14	17	15	17	178	17.8
5	Punky Fish	NL	14	24	21	16	17	13	11	14	13	13	156	15.6
6	Phenix	SE	14	19	19	17	17	11	13	6	14	14	144	14.4
7	Blue Eye Majik	US	11	23	14	19	14	10	11	14	12	14	142	14.2
8	Space Center Teiwaz	US	12	18	18	12	10	13	11	14	9	15	132	13.2
9	Jetstream	US	11	15	15	13	13	10	11	12	11	11	122	12.2
10	Superfly	US	11	15	12	11	10	9	10	11	7	11	107	10.7
11	TBD	US	5	14	9	9	12	8	4	10	9	8	88	8.8

DeLand Majik and Airspeed Vertical at the Shamrock Showdown 2002

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NSL News: What did you bring back to 4-way competition in 1995? Neal Houston: Some bad habits and not knowing how to creep.

NSL News: Perris NRG then broke your bad habits and taught you how to creep in 1995?

Neal Houston: Yes, NRG at the time was the best 4-way I'd done.

NSL News: Things have changed in the meantime. NRG scored approx. 14-average in 1995, Airspeed Vertical now scores around 23-average. Where are the major differences between then and now?

Neal Houston: NRG averaged approx. 11+. I guess the skill of being able to know where your center needs to be and being able to put or keep it there, has increased.

NSL News: Let's stay in the presence now. Airspeed has dominated the 4-way competition since the Vertical team was found in 2000. Now, this year DeLand Majik beat your team for the first time in a 4-way meet. The Golden Knights scored a 23.0 average in the Carolina Skydiving League. And France scored a new world record last week. Are you getting nervous?

Neal Houston: No, and it's just adding to our motivation.

NSL News: The whole skydiving world seems to be excited about the great competition between the top teams. There is appreciation for more and tougher competition. Airspeed and Majik both travel to Russia at the end of this month for the second showdown this year. Are you better prepared for Majik than in March?

Neal Houston: We've done 400 jumps since seeing Majik. Once we're in Russia, we'll have less than two days to adjust to the time change, so besides that, I think we'll be better prepared.

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Malevsky Memorial 2002			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		4,11,F	J,H,20,15	6,7,2	C,O,5,8	1,12,9	B,E,18,10	P,D,K,N,14	M,22,G,3	13,L,21	Q,19,17	Total	Avg
1	DeLand Majik	US	21	25	21	23	20	22	29	21	24	25	231	23.1
2	Airspeed Vertical	US	23	22	22	24	19	23	26	22	19	21	221	22.1
3	Russia	RU	20	19	19	21	18	18	24	17	19	18	193	19.3
4	Endeavor	CH	13	16	17	17	15	16	21	11	15	-	141	15.7
5	Japan	JP	13	15	15	11	10	10	15	12	12	-	113	12.6
6	Denmark	DK	11	12	14	14	11	9	17	12	12	-	112	12.4
7	Netherlands	NL	10	9	12	13	12	10	14	9	-	-	89	11.1

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NSL News: Originally, you had not scheduled the meet in Russia. Airspeed had plans to compete with the Golden Knights in Carolina. What changed your mind?

Neal Houston: The invitation to Russia came months after our schedule with the Knights had been set. We wanted to compete with the Knights because they are a team capable of putting us under pressure. We knew we'd get the same pressure from the French in Russia. The schedules of the meets were too close to do both, and we had to pick one or the other. Going to Russia seemed more exciting than going to North Carolina.

NSL News: No doubt. I did not know that France would compete in Russia, as well. This will be like a world meet. How do you feel about having such a high-pressure event so close to the very important U.S. Nationals 2002?

Neal Houston: We've had several people, including Kirk Verner, Dan B.C. and Jack Jefferies suggest that traveling half-way around the world for a high-profile competition a month before Nationals might not the best thing to do. However, we feel there is enough time between Russia and the Nationals to recover, rest and train.

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USPA Nationals 2002		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open	B,12,2	K,6,4	20,5,13	D,Q,11,18	N,3,9	A,21,16	22,H,L,J	G,C,7,15	E,19,17	10,P,M,8	Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights	19	21	19	21	29	22	23	23	22	19	218	21.8
2	Arizona Airspeed	19	22	18	21	26	22	22	21	23	21	215	21.5
3	DeLand Majik	19	19	20	20	24	22	23	24	22	19	212	21.2
4	Golden Knights Black	15	17	16	17	20	17	20	20	19	16	177	17.7
5	Airspeed Zulu	17	18	14	17	22	15	18	17	17	16	171	17.1
6	Cross Keys Fluid	16	16	13	15	18	16	15	13	15	15	152	15.2
7	DeLand Frost	15	16	12	13	17	15	17	17	14	13	149	14.9
8	Ranch Tribe	14	14	13	13	17	11	16	10	15	13	136	13.6
9	Elsinore Adrenaline	13	13	12	13	16	11	15	13	15	13	134	13.4
10	Synchronicity	12	12	10	12	17	13	13	15	12	12	128	12.8
11	Untrained Eye	12	12	11	13	14	10	11	9	12	11	115	11.5
12	Team Kruegeraand	8	8	6	5	6	7	6	7	8	5	66	6.6

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NSL News: Obviously, Airspeed gives competition and competition practice a very high value. Where do you see the best benefits of skydiving competition for weekend and for top teams?

Neal Houston: At any level, competing is the reason we train. Competition will bring out the strengths and the weaknesses out of an individual and team. Knowing what those are allows the individual and the team to incorporate them into their training and become a better team.

NSL News: Which team will offer you more competition this year at the U.S. Nationals: the Golden Knights or DeLand Majik?

Neal Houston: I don't want to say which team will be tougher to beat.

NSL News: Going back in history of 4-way, who would your all-time All-Star team consist of?

Neal Houston: I'm going to answer that in two ways. First, the four most influential 4-way guys for me are: Mark Vincent, Mike Zahar, Alan Metni and Kirk Verner. Mark and Mike preceded me on the Canadian national team and were years ahead of their time as far as flying technique goes. Alan provided tremendous opportunities for me with his involvement in Dallas Heat and Airspeed. And Kirk Verner is the most visually inspiring formation skydiver to watch on video. Second, My All-Star team would be Airspeed Vertical minus me plus Dan B.C.

NSL News: Neal, give us one slot hint for all the other center insides in the world, please. Neal Houston: See the point, feel the tail and trust the outside center. NSL News: Thank you very much for your time, Neal. And good luck for the rest of the year.