posted Feb 15th, 2006 - The 2006 season opener with the SSL Valentine's Meet at Skydive Arizona in Eloy is just around the corner, and the NSL News has already covered the event with two previews. The direct link to the event pages has been set on the front page, and the NSL News is ready to move the temporary office to the west coast.

The competition draw will be posted Friday evening, as it has become normal procedure throughout the 2005 season. The actual event coverage will begin Saturday morning with scores, stories, pictures and hopefully a big load of new meet videos for the NSL-TV.

The NSL News was interested in a preview of the first competition of the 2006 season by a DeLand Fire member. Reigning 4-way World Champion and Outside Center for USPA 2005 Champion DeLand Fire, Gary Smith, took the time for a quick update on his team's situation after Natasha Montgomery's injury in January 2006. He also provided his feedback of what he expects from the teams competing in Eloy this weekend.

Gary Smith reported that it was a serious problem for DeLand Fire when Natasha Montgomery was injured:

"Natasha not being able to jump is definitely a setback for us. We had three weeks of training planned, which she has missed. However, we managed to do 80 plus jumps with Thomas Hughes filling the slot. We were very grateful that he offered his time off to come out and jump with us whenever he could. The jumps with him went great, and we really tore up some of them."

Thomas Hughes took Natasha's Point position, and DeLand Fire went through the SkyQuest 2005 competition draw with him. Gary Smith did not offer any comment on the scores for the NSL News. Natasha Montgomery currently recovers and prepares for her comeback with a vacation on Hawaii.

She feels very positive about the progress of her recovery and feels better every day. Nothing seems to be in the way for her to make the next training camp in March and to be physically and mentally ready for the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2006 on March 18 - 19 in DeLand.

Her teammate Gary Smith then continued with his preview of the upcoming meet in Eloy: "Unfortunately, it is only a 6-round meet. Thus, the meet averages cannot be a true reflection of where the teams really are. However, I expect that Odyssey will be the team to beat. Even though they have not put in much 4-way training, they are a strong team and their experience will pull them through this meet."

The second Airspeed line-up consists of Airspeed Velocity 2005 members Kirk Verner and Andy Honigbaum, plus the new Airspeed members Thomas Hughes and Eric Gin. Gary Smith has good reasons to keep his eyes on this Airspeed line-up, as well: "The 2nd Airspeed line up will also be exciting to watch. They have all the talent, and even though it is only a 6-round meet, I feel they will make some errors at this stage, which they will not make later on."

The most interesting topic is the new line-up of Team Fastrax. Gary Smith has won the World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2004 together with the new Fastrax member Doug Park. DeLand Majik with Gary Smith and Doug Park set new standards for 4-way competition until the Majik line-up with Solly Williams and Joey Jones discontinued. Gary Smith knows that Doug Park will bring great values to Team Fastrax 2006:

"All eyes will be on the new Fastrax line up. I have made many jumps with Doug and know what he is capable of. Mark (Kirkby) has jumped at a 22-plus average pace. Niklas (Hemlin) is very talented, and John (Hart) has the potential to keep up with them, as they get more and more jumps behind them. I have no doubt that they will/should already be averaging 20-plus in a 10-round meet."

Gary Smith completed his preview with the other two teams that may play a role in the 4-way top competition in the USA this year, the Golden Knights and Perris Fury:

"I have heard very little from the Golden Knights, so it will be good to see where they are right now. They have proved over the past decade that you can never underestimate them, but for this meet I think they will be using it as competition practice and to get themselves started. It is always good to see a team coming out of Perris. With their motivation and determination, this team will be good, but I know too little of them to give a fair comment at this point. However, I have a lot of respect for Dan BC, and if he is working with them, they definitely will become a solid team."

The weather forecast for Eloy promises great conditions for Saturday. The first scores and updates should be posted on Saturday morning. Stay tuned.