posted Jun 7th, 2006 - The NSL News story on May 3rd announced that France would join the 4-way league network for the 2006 season. Gillian Winter, French IPC Delegate and President of the French Sporting Commission, followed through, and the scores of the first event last weekend are posted.

France had impressive participation at the first of three "Coupe de France" events. Only the scores of the teams competing in the AAA/Open Class are posted since the dive pool of the second French competition class is not synchronized yet with the National Skydiving League and the European Skydiving League.

15 teams competed in the AAA/Open Class, additional 21 teams completed all eight rounds in the junior class. Six 8-way teams completed the Formation Skydiving event in Mimizan.

It is not only the great participation that leaves an impression, the scores deserve a closer look, as well. The field of teams included the French national teams in 8-way and in the Women's category. Both teams were listed as guest teams since they are sponsored by the French federation. However, they used the opportunity to get competition practice approx. two months before the start of the World Meet 2006.

The NSL News had just recently commented the situation in the Women's category with a story on June 5th, two weeks after the British team Perris AirKix had posted a 16.0 average at the May meet of the Southwest Skydiving League. French national coach Jerome David surely observes the 4-way competition and knew that the UK team had performed well two weeks before the first competition in France. The pressure was on.

However, Jerome David who is also the technical coach of the French Women's team, had confidently commented for the NSL News on March 8 that his goal for the team is a 19-point average. "Maubeuge France Filles", the French national team with Severine Bocquet, Sophie Deremaux, Catherine Gallet, Sophie Hinguant, Cedric Hourde and Sandy Labattu probably lived up to their coach's expectations at this point in time and put the ball back into the Perris AirKix field. They finished the 8-round meet last weekend with a 17.9 average.

There are still two months left for both teams, and the situation has not changed. France is the number one contender for the gold medals, and the other teams, with Perris AirKix leading the pursuers, have to catch up. The UK team will compete again this weekend, this time on home turf in Great Britain. The next scores will show where Perris AirKix is three weeks after the May meet in Perris. The pressure is back on AirKix.

"Maubeuge France Filles" posted the highest meet average of all AAA Class teams last weekend, including teams from Sweden and Finland. The Texas Skydiving League competed, as well, but used a separate and different competition draw this time. Dallas Thunder finished with a 16.8 average after five rounds. The TSL scores are posted at the TSL home page.

The former 4-way world champions of France Maubeuge, who put together a new line-up for this short season, did not compete at last weekend's event in Mimizan. The NSL News had explained the situation of the 4-way Open Class competition in France with several stories, last time on April 5. The team focuses all efforts on the July event of the "Coupe de France", which is the official qualifyer for the 4-way Open Class teams in France.

June 3rd, 2006 - 8way

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Total

Avg

Rank

AAAClass

13-H-18

11-F-2

10-J-N-L

15-21-Q

D-1-20

7-C-O-14

4-3-6

8-22-G

Total

Avg

1

France Maubeuge 8-way

INT

19

19

21

21

22

18

26

20

166

20.8

French national coach Jerome David sent his 8-way team into the competition last weekend, as well, even though there was not much competition at all. It is difficult to put direct pressure on an 8-way team on world class level anywhere in the world these days. There are not many 8-way teams that can challenge a 20-point performance level. However, the competition practice and the presence at the event was important enough for Jerome David and his team.

It was probably also an opportunity to send a message to the only two teams that should be able to offer serious competition for the French team, defending world champion Arizona Airspeed and the Russian 8-way team. It was a strong message that came from France. "France Maubeuge" finished the 8-round meet with a 20.8 average, which is the highest average score for this line-up and also the highest 8-way average at world meets or world cups since 1999. The NSL News will follow up with a separate evaluation of the 8-way event after last weekend's results in France.