posted Dec 22nd, 2023 - The NSL News goes back in time until 1998, the year after the Florida Skydiving League initiated the start of the National Skydiving League. Several short articles and paragraphs of events in 1998 were recovered from other archives and copied into the NSL News database at SKYLEAGUE.COM. The currently oldest NSL News update covered 4-way activities in Florida and preparations of other new leagues joining the NSL Network.

Two of the early NSL News updates on 19 December 1998 reported the important athletic role that 4-way teams from Florida played in U.S. competition. One result of the popular weekends of the Florida Skydiving League events became the annual Shamrock Showdown, which eventually attracted top teams from across the planet to compete at Skydive DeLand in March.

The Shamrock Showdown 2008 eventually generated the historic record participation with a total of 27 teams at Skydive DeLand. Airspeed Odyssey won by five points over the French national team in 4-way Open after all ten rounds and followed up at the FAI Outdoor World Championship in August with a 1-point victory over the same French team after eight rounds.

The Shamrock Showdown has always been an opportunity for the local and regional teams from Florida to mingle with the best 4-way teams in the world. They met each other regularly at the meets of the Florida Skydiving League, and the Shamrock Showdown brought them together in a more exciting environment and atmosphere.

Shamrock Showdown 2008			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		18,7,15	9,10,14	4,F,M,A	L,H,E,6	3,P,5	G,C,J,D,B	12,13,Q	1,16,20	21,N,O,2	19,11,22	Total	Avg
1	Airspeed Odyssey	US	21	22	32	30	25	42	22	17	22	19	252	25.2
2	Maubeuge	FR	21	18	30	28	24	45	21	19	22	19	247	24.7
3	Evolution	CA	18	19	27	27	20	36	19	17	20	17	220	22.0
4	Black Cat	RU	19	17	27	29	23	42	18	16	21	-	212	23.6
5	Golden Knights Black	US	19	19	29	30	22	43	19	18	-	-	199	24.9
6	DeLand Groove	US	19	21	28	29	21	40	18	17	-	-	193	24.1
7	Fastrax	US	18	16	27	28	24	39	19	16	-	-	187	23.4
8	Perris Fury	US	19	17	25	31	22	43	-	-	-	-	157	26.2
9	Satori	UK	16	16	22	26	18	25	16	12	-	-	151	18.9
10	Teiwaz Red	US	11	17	21	21	16	27	15	14	-	-	142	17.8
11	Optic Nerve	US	14	12	21	20	20	25	15	12	-	-	139	17.4
12	Fortitudo	NO	12	14	21	19	14	22	11	12	12	-	137	15.2
13	Sebastian Tempest	US	14	12	22	22	16	23	13	13	-	-	135	16.9
14	Blue Spirits	SE	9	11	20	17	13	23	12	6	13	7	131	13.1
15	Team Twisted	US	14	13	20	18	15	26	13	11	-	-	130	16.3
16	Danish Blaze	DK	11	10	17	13	16	22	12	11	13	-	125	13.9
17	Fastrax Blue	US	14	15	21	22	17	31	-	-	-	-	120	20.0
18	Sequence	DK	11	10	14	12	11	15	9	9	9	-	100	11.1
19	Venom	NO	9	10	14	12	9	18	11	7	-	-	90	11.3
20	Chicas	DE	12	12	20	17	14	-	-	-	-	-	75	15.0
21	Bangsimon	IS	4	8	10	9	8	9	7	6	8	-	69	7.7
22	Skybreakers	DK	6	6	10	9	7	9	7	2	-	-	56	7.0
Rank	AA Class		18,7	9,14	4,F,M	L,H,E,6	15,P,A	G,C,J,D	13,Q,B	1,20	21,N,O	19,11	Total	Avg
1	FSC Wind Damaged	US	9	8	10	12	10	12	8	8	-	-	77	9.6
Rank	A Class		7,M	9,6	4,F	L,H,E	P,A,D	G,C,J	Q,B,O	2,M	21,N	19,F	Total	Avg
1	SDF4ST	NO	9	7	8	7	10	8	9	8	-	-	66	8.3
2	Zero Tolerance Miami	US	7	6	6	6	7	7	11	7	-	-	57	7.1
Rank	Rookie		M,Q,N	B,K,G	F,O,C	L,H,E	P,A,D	G,C,J	Q,B,O	M,L,P	N,H,A	F,E,D	Total	Avg
1	Cold Turkey	US	11	10	11	4	10	6	10	7	-	-	69	8.6
2	Down With The Syndrome	US	5	4	7	6	4	6	5	5	-	-	42	5.3

This colorful mix of teams has never changed, even though the general interest in 4-way training and participation at competition is not the same any longer. The possibility of indoor training at home has kept teams from other contries and U.S. regions from traveling to Florida, and many other skydiving events and activities are available. On top of that, the corona virus crisis eventually impacted heavily on all skydiving activities, 4-way competition and NSL Network events, as well.

All the obstacles still did not stop the most passionate teams, organizers and hosts from doing what they like to do. The Shamrock Showdown 2022 had marked the lowest point of the event history, even though Arizona Airspeed and NMP PCH HayaBusa brought AA Class team Anion Flux XP the royal treatment that any event can offer a new team.

The Shamrock Showdown 2023 then provided evidence that it was worth to continue the event through the difficult times. Eleven teams showed up at Skydive DeLand, including the four best teams in the world, according to the results at the 25th FAI World Formation Skydiving Championships in October 2022. Five teams from Florida had the opportunity to share the facilities with the world's best 4-way competitors and world champions and watch them do their business. At the same time, they had their own battles in the other 4-way categories. Three of the Florida teams (4Action, DeLands Hit Show, Funderbirds) moved on to compete at the USPA Nationals 2023 half a year later.

Shamrock Showdown 2023			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		14,O,7		C,9,11		4,2,F		Q,13,21		B,6,L,19		1,22,G		K,18,8		M,3,17		H,15,12		D,20,10		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	26		28		25	-1	24		27	-1	21		22		27		22	-1	22		244	24.4
2	France 4-way Open	FR	26		25	-1	23		24		25	-1	19		19		26		19		18		224	22.4
3	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	21	-1	23	-2	24	-1	19	-1	26		19	-1	18	-1	26	-1	21		20	-1	217	21.7
4	Qatar Tigers	QA	21		22		17	-1	21		23		18		17		22		17	-1	19		197	19.7
5	SDC Rhythm XP	US	20	-1	20		20		19	-1	21		14	-2	15	-2	22		15	-2	14	-1	180	18.0
6	Pour Decisions	US	18		19		16		17		19		13	-1	12	-2	18		12	-1	14		158	15.8

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Arizona Airspeed - France at the Shamrock Showdown 2023

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The same four top teams will compete for their countries once again at the next world championship in September 2024, and at least two of them will launch their outdoor season at the next Shamrock Showdown in March.

The great and exciting participation of Florida teams at the Shamrock Showdown 2023 generated growing interest in the Florida Skydiving League format as it used to be a long time ago. The teams used to meet once per month at a different hosting skydiving center to enjoy the atmosphere of competition and collect meet experiences.

The 2024 outdoor season in Florida is going to feature a new approach to a comeback of the league events, and it begins with two 4-way meets in January and February. The Florida Skydiving League used to run its meet season in the winter months, which usually offer a supportive weather situation with comfortable temperatures. The meet schedule changed to summer months with the purpose to match event dates in other regions when the NSL Network was growing.

The comeback events of the Florida Skydiving League will take place in the two winter months, and the Shamrock Showdown 2024 will also conclude the FSL 2024 season. The Florida teams then have half a year to use the experiences of the first three months of the year to prepare for the next USPA Nationals in September.

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NMP PCH HayaBusa - Qatar Tigers at the Shamrock Showdown 2023

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