posted Feb 17th, 2013 - Several teams will launch their 2013 competition season once again with the indoor/outdoor combination of the Paraclete XP Outdoor Championship 2013 with the annual Shamrock Showdown Skins Game and the World Challenge 2013. Five teams have confirmed this 2013 package so far, including Arizona Airspeed, SDC Rhythm XP, Evolution, Thunder and one of the three Russian teams who will compete in DeLand in March.

The Russian a.team4way lineup was put together at the beginning of the 2012 season and is going into the second year with the same lineup. The NSL News recently reported SportLoto's plans for the 2013 season with the story on 14 February 2013 and mentioned that the team's lineup includes two former Kaktus Hunters. Center Outside Andrei Kharitonov used to train and compete together with his sister Katya until the end of the 2010 season.

Katya Kharitonova launched her own new team project after a year with the Illusions. Her brother and Egor Gusev had joined new forces with Yuri Drozdov and Dima Samochval. SportLoto and a.team4way then competed at the same time and at the same place for the first time at the World Challenge 2012. It will happen again this year, and Katya Kharitonova's team will have posted the first outdoor scores of the 2013 season before traveling again to Bedford.

World Challenge 2012

Rd. 1

Rd. 2

Rd. 3

Rd. 4

Rd. 5

Rd. 6

Rd. 7

Rd. 8

Rd. 9

Rd. 10

Total

Avg

Rank

AAA Class

D,Q,9,10

17,P,11

2,21,7

14,J,O,M

A,L,18,16

N,H,20,G

C,E,19,22

1,8,4

K,6,3

12,F,5

Total

Avg

1

a.team 4way (RU)

20

15

15

25

15

18

11

15

15

15

164

16.4

Russian Nationals 2012

Rd. 1

Rd. 2

Rd. 3

Rd. 4

Rd. 5

Rd. 6

Rd. 7

Rd. 8

Rd. 9

Rd. 10

Total

Avg

Rank

AAA Class

20,F,D,16

P,B,18,K

6,21,G

12,M,9

E,17,3

O,Q,H,13

2,10,C

11,J,22

8,1,4

5,L,N,14

Total

Avg

1

a.team 4way (RU)

16

18

16

16

16

19

13

14

13

15

156

15.6

The a.team4way lineup got together in February 2012. Alex Ushakov (Tail), Alexander Ashikhmin (Center Inside) and Andrey Kalugin (Center Outside) are the three other team members. Point Katya Kharitonova said that the lineup had a great combination of talent, maturity and experience from the start.

Katya Kharitonova was doing some 2way coaching for Alex Ushakov while she was training and competing with Illusions in 2011. Her future team mate eventually asked her in October of 2011 what she thought of some serious 4way training and building a completely new team. Her former 2way student had hardly any 4way experience at all at this point in time.

Alex Ushakov may have been inspired by his coach's Kaktus Hunter story, and Katya's brother's SportLoto project also showed that a team can go beyond the 21-average level and still be a weekend amateur team. However, Alex Ushakov offered Katya Kharitonova a slot in his new team at the end of 2011. He almost simultaneously added Alexander Ashikhmin and Andrey Kalugin to the lineup.

Alexander Ashikhmin is also completely new to 4way competition. He and Alex Ushakov have created the unique combination of maturity, talent and genuine passion for the new team that Katya Kharitonova mentioned earlier. Andrey Kalugin has been on several different Russian 4way teams before and adds more experience to the team project. His last international appearance was with Gradient Alpha and the second half of Sky Panthers Barkli's 8way lineup at the World Cup 2011 in Germany.

The a.team4way lineup was complete in February 2012 and immediately started training for the World Challenge 2012 by investing time for indoor training. The 16.4 average in Bedford was the starting point for a.team4way.

The Russia team followed up with a 15.6 average at the Russian Nationals 2012 in September in Tanai, Siberia. The local indoor competition in Moscow saw a.team4way on a new scoring level with a 21.6 average in October. Arizona Airspeed's Center Outside Thomas Hughes has been coaching the team in Moscow for the start into the 2013 season. Outdoor training in Eloy will follow before the Paraclete XP Outdoor Championship in DeLand and the trip to Bedford. Katya Kharitonova will try to get as close as possible to her brother's world class amateur team.