posted Sep 27th, 2022 - The NSL News aftermath of the USPA Nationals 2022 began already at the competition site, Skydive Chicago in Ottawa, Illinios, just a few hours after the completion of the Formation Skydiving events.

Expert conversation in the NSL News Coaches Corner has been a part of the aftermath for many years, and coaches Gary Smith and Joey Jones have contributed their feedback for the audience since the Coaches Corner was introduced. Both are professionals in the sport, as they were first world champions in Formation Skydiving competition before turning into very popular and busy coaches.

One of the many interesting aspects of their careers is the fact that they shared some of their time as 4-way world champions as team mates, and even piece partners, with DeLand Majik. This year, Joey Jones was working with Arizona Airspeed, Gary Smith once again with NMP PCH HayaBusa and Qatar Tigers. All three teams will oppose each other at the upcoming FAI Outdoor World Meet 2022, and they also posted scores on the 4-way Open Class leaderboard of the USPA Nationals for the same ten sequences.

Solly Williams and Doug Park were their world champion team mates with DeLand Majik in 2004, after they had defeated strong U.S. opponents at the USPA Nationals 2003, Golden Knights Gold by two points, Arizona Airspeed by three points. Doug Park, Joey Jones and Gary Smith have all worked as coaches for NMP PCH HayaBusa in the past, who finally became 4-way world champions in 2014, the title that they have defended successfully more often than any other national 4-way teams in the last 25 years. Only France has matched this record with four consecutive 4-way titles between 1987 and 1993.

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USPA Nationals 2003		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open	8,A,Q,F		15,3,G		4,N,22		J,7,B,H		O,13,17		16,K,1		21,D,L,14		6,5,2		12,P,11		10,19,18		Total	Avg
1	DeLand Majik	26		19		17		32		23		20		21		19		19		17		213	21.3
2	Golden Knights Gold	26		18		19	-2	32		23		21		19		17	-2	19		17		211	21.1
3	Airspeed Vertical	27		18		17	-2	34		18	-5	19		21		19		18		19		210	21.0
4	Airspeed Dragon	19	-2	15		17		30		20		14	-2	18		17		15		14		179	17.9
5	Golden Knights Black	20		15		16		27		15	-2	17		17		16		16		14		173	17.3
6	Perris School Boys	21		15		14		25		18		13	-2	16		14		12		12		160	16.0
7	DeLand Synchronicity	18		15		14		23		15	-2	14		15		15		14		12		155	15.5
8	The Ranch Team	17		14		13	-1	22		15		16		12		14		13		12		148	14.8
9	Teiwaz	17		13		13		17	-2	15		14		15		13		11		11		139	13.9
10	DeLand Chikara	16		12		11		19		14		12		13		13		13		9	-2	132	13.2
11	Optik Kurves	16		11		11		22		12		12		14		10		11		9		128	12.8
12	Elsinore Illusion	16		6	-4	12		22		14		9	-2	14		13		12		9	-2	127	12.7
13	4 Something	14		9		9		16		7	-2	9		11		8	-3	9		9		101	10.1
14	Wingspan	11		10		7	-2	14		9	-2	10		9		7	-2	7	-2	8		92	9.2
15	Guy Chuck JP Billy Mike	7	-4	7		8		9	-2	8	-1	4	-2	0		7	-1	3	-1	6	-1	59	5.9

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Doug Park is not actively involved in Formation Skydiving competition any longer, while he is still following the action with the same passion that he had years ago. Solly Williams has continued with 4-way coaching and will meet his former team mates Gary Smith and Joey Jones at this year's world meet, where they will be opponents as coaches.

Joey Jones will follow Arizona Airspeed's performance towards winning the FAI gold medals, even though he has completed his mission with the team. Gary Smith is in a similarly tricky position, as he is leading NMP PCH HayaBusa and Qatar Tigers both into the battle for the medal positions behind the top favorite, Arizona Airspeed.

Solly Williams does not have a direct conflict of interest in his coaching position, as the two teams that he is coaching, Norway's Agera FS2023 and Adventure Flyers from Paraguay, are not expected to compete for close positions on the 4-way Open Class leaderboard.

Solly Williams has also worked with Arizona Airspeed in the past, and he took on a new coaching job with a U.S. team this year. He guided Skydive Midwest NEXT to the status of a USPA medal contender in 4-way Open, and he was at Skydive Chicago to witness the battle for the USPA bronze medals between SDC Rhythm XP, XPG4 and Skydive Midwest NEXT.

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NSL Live Talk with Solly Williams, Gary Smith, Joey Jones

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Solly Williams is home in DeLand, Florida, where the Norwegian national 4-way Open Class team, Agera FS2023, had scheduled their last training camp before the outdoor world meet next month. Agera have been a regular visitor at Skydive DeLand since Solly Williams started the coaching work with the team.

His cooperation with Norwegian teams reaches far back to the time when the DeLand Norgies were training in DeLand on a regular basis, and he was coaching the most successful Norwegian national 4-way team in history. The DeLand Norgies won FAI bronze medals in 1999, 2001 and 2003.

He had just concluded his time with the South African national team 4-way Equanimity and won FAI bronze medals in 1997. Equanimity had made Skydive DeLand their home by then, and Solly Williams never went back. The success of this cooperation with Norway has continued, as Agera FS2023 has turned into one of the most promising teams behind the FAI medal positions.

Agera had just arrived in DeLand when there was unexpected time for NSL Talk with Solly Williams. The weather situation interfered with the start of the training camp, which was not related to the currently approaching hurricane. He had enough time for a review of the USPA Nationals and a preview of the upcoming outdoor world meet.