posted Oct 11th, 2020 - It's sad but true that the Indoor Cloud League leaderboard of the whole year is reflecting quite accurately how the corona virus crisis has been impacting indoor and outdoor events in Formation Skydiving competition.

The beginning of the year was very promising on both leaderboards, where a total of ten different ICL teams introduced 4-way training and competition to new participants at the events and posted scores and videos.

The annual overview is showing what happened when the corona virus made its way across the world. Participation was already slowing down significantly in March, and April became the first month in the history of the Indoor Cloud League without any scores and videos on the leaderboards.

The Hurricane Factory in the Czech Republic was shut down only for one month in April, and the Czech teams were back in May - alone on the ICL leaderboard. After that, activities slowly came back, month by month, while the pandemic still interrupted normal operation everywhere. However, windtunnels and teams both learned how to deal with the restrictions and circumstances, and there was even a new ICL team in the Midwest launching a new 4-way project in August.

---

Indoor Cloud League 2020			Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
Flying Chamber: 14+ Feet
1	Hurricane Factory	CZ	147	154	134	-	158	122	117	110	123	-	-	-	1065
2	Paraclete XP	US	110	135	114	-	-	-	139	114	141	-	-	-	753
3	iFLY Tampa	US	101	104	55	-	-	49	-	36	-	-	-	-	345
4	iFLY Dallas	US	89	109	96	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	294
5	ICL Midwest	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	142	130	-	-	-	272
6	Capital Region	US	106	117	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	223
7	iFLY Seattle	US	92	110	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	202
8	iFLY Jacksonville	US	18	66	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	84
Flying Chamber: 12+ Feet
1	iFLY SF Bay	US	87	66	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	153
2	iFLY Orlando	US	76	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	76
3	iFLY Denver	US	37	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	37

---

The 2020 leaderboard seems to indicate that the activities are increasing again. Unfortunately, that's not really the case, at least not in the Czech Republic.

Jan Klapka informed the NSL News that he is probably done for the year with indoor and outdoor events both. The Hurricane Factory was shut down again, and the training of the 4-way juniors has come to the next halt, as well.

He said that it will be a minimum of 14 days this time. There might be a chance that he could still generate October scores and videos if the new restrictions are limited to the 14-day period in the Czech Republic. Fall weather is usually bringing outdoor activities to an end at this time of the year naturally.

The September scores and videos still generated a very interesting international competition between three top teams.

The NSL News created a special leaderboard that features XPG4, Skydive Midwest NEXT and HF Cubs with the two Open Class sequences (AAA/AA), as it could happen at any 4-way competition.

---

Indoor Cloud League September 2020			1	2	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		A,4,L,5	H,4,21	Total	Avg
1	XPG4	US	29	24	53	26.5
2	Skydive Midwest NEXT	US	26	22	48	24.0
3	HF Cubs	CZ	23	22	45	22.5

---

AAA Class: XPG4 - Skydive Midwest NEXT - HF Cubs in September

---

---

AA Class: XPG4 - Skydive Midwest NEXT - HF Cubs in September

---

All three teams could even meet each other at FAI world meets or world cups at some time in the future, indoors and/or outdoors. XPG4 and HF Cubs both are all-female lineups who have their own FAI category in 4-way Women. XPG4 are the bronze medalists of the FAI Indoor World Meet 2019, where the HF Cubs won the world championship title in 4-way Junior.

The Czech team has moved up into the senior 4-way world and would represent the Czech Republic at future indoor events. They have also started with outdoor training and could qualify as the national outdoor team in 4-way Women, as well.

The situation is different for XPG4 who have not attended an outdoor competition yet. Aviatrixx won the 4-way Women qualification at the USPA Nationals 2019 and will compete for the United States in Tanay next year. However, they outscored Aviatrixx at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2020, which was the U.S. qualification event for the next indoor world meet. Therefore HF Cubs and XPG4 will be direct opponents on the 4-way Women leaderboard at the next indoor world meet.

Both teams could then follow up at an outdoor world meet, as well. XPG4 is an outdoor team and could qualify as the U.S. national team in 4-way Women at the next USPA Nationals. The HF Cubs could be ready for outdoor competition too at the next world meet, if their student training turns into 4-way training next. Skydive Midwest NEXT could meet both teams at the next world cup, where each nation can send four teams to compete in each category...

---

Indoor Cloud League 2020			AAA	AA	A	RRR	RR	R	Total
Rank	September 14+		A,4,L,5	H,4,21	H,C,19	H,C,K	M,A,L	M,H	Total
1	Paraclete XP	US	29	24	20	24	24	20	141
2	ICL Midwest	US	26	22	20	16	23	23	130
3	Hurricane Factory	CZ	23	22	23	15	17	23	123

---

Indoor Cloud League highscores of September

---