posted Apr 14th, 2006 - The NSL News story on April 7 mentioned that the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2006 included another internal race between two teams that have been a part of the US 4-way competition for many years: Teiwaz and Optic Nerve.

The presentation of the Shamrock Showdown's round nine on NSL-TV features the history of these two teams. It was the third time at the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2006 that Optic Nerve and Teiwaz tied their scores. Teiwaz ended up 16 points ahead of Optic Nerve after ten rounds. There were times when it was the other way around...

Teiwaz currently calls Lake Wales its home dropzone and was founded by the former 4NB members Mary Inhoffer and Pamela Geoffrey in 1999. Mark Stose and player coach Kurt Gaebel were added to the line-up, which trained and competed in 1999, 2000 and 2001. The same Teiwaz line-up won the USPA Championship 2000 in the Advanced Class in Perris.

Optic Nerve was formed by the eye surgeon and passionate 4-way competitor, Dr. Joel Shugar in 1997. The team name was first Eyes on Florida when Dr. Joel and Sally Stuart hired the two world class competitors of Team FX, Joey Jones and Dawn English, as player coaches. It was the first time that the player coach concept was used in the USA, which has become very popular these days.

The National Skydiving League was only in the planning phase by then, and Eyes on Florida trained in 1997 to compete only at the USPA Nationals, as all other teams in the country. Eyes on Florida with Dr. Joel Shugar and Sally Stuart posted a 10.7 average after six rounds in Perris, and the player coach project continued.

The team name changed to Optic Nerve in 1998, which was also the birth year of the National Skydiving League and the America's Cup. Both organizations had the purpose to offer more Formations Skydiving competitions, and Dr. Joel Shugar became a strong supporter of both AmCup and NSL.

His company, the Nature Coast EyeCare Institute, sponsored two huge trophies for the America's Cup, and Optic Nerve attended to of the 4-way competitions. The line-up had changed, and Scott Keeler became Dr. Joel's partner in work and skydiving. Dr. Joel Shugar, Sally Stuart, Scott Keeler and Mario Mauro posted 9.2 and 8.7 averages at two of the 6-round AmCup events.

The Optic Nerve 3-way with Joel Shugar, Sally Stuart and Scott Keeler hired Solly Williams for the USPA Nationals 1998 and finished with a 10.9 average after ten rounds. Sally Stuart left the team in 1999 and prepared her next skydiving career step with the US Women's team Synchronicity.

Optic Nerve of 1999 was finally the dream team for Dr. Joel. The player coach project was back to a 2-2 situation when Solly Williams and Gary Smith agreed to join the team after moving to the USA. Optic Nerve with Dr. Joel Shugar, Scott Keeler, Solly Williams and Gary Smith, filmed by Rickster Powell, attended one AmCup meet and posted a 13.0 average.

The same line-up competed at the USPA Nationals 1999 and took the first place in USPA's Advanced Class with a 14.4 meet average. Optic Nerve could not win USPA medals by then since Solly Williams and Gary Smith were not eligible for medals at a USPA competition yet.

1999 was also the first season for Teiwaz. Both teams had not met earlier that year at a meet since Teiwaz began training only in the summer of 1999. However, both teams had their first of many direct competitions at the USPA Nationals in Sebastian 1999, and Optic Nerve's new line-up was far ahead of Teiwaz (144 - 126).

The 2000 season would become the busiest year for the same Optic Nerve line-up with Solly Williams and Gary Smith. Dr. Joel Shugar had become more involved with the National Skydiving League and helped to develop the NSL handicap system, which was applied for several years within the league system and is still the foundation for the SkyVenture Orlando Competition.

Optic Nerve 2000 took full advantage of the dramatically increased numner of 4-way competitions in the USA and attended one AmCup event (14.8), plus additional eight meets (12.8 - 14.0 - 14.2 - 13.7 - 13.3 - 14.7 - 12.4 - 13.3) of the Florida Skydiving League.

Teiwaz with Mary Inhoffer, Pamela Geoffrey, Mark Stose and Kurt Gaebel attended most of the FSL 2000 meets, as well, and enjoyed the friendly rivalry with Optic Nerve. Dr. Joel Shugar's team was slightly ahead of Teiwaz most of the time throughout the whole season.

The final showdown at the USPA Nationals 2000 had Optic Nerve (13.8) once again six points ahead of Teiwaz (13.2) in USPA's Advanced Class competition. Optic Nerve was still not in first place. Robbie Spencer, South African Equanimity teammate of Solly Willams and Gary Smith, had put his name on top of the leaderboard (14.0) with Barry Jive's Uptown 5.

However, both teams with South African members were not eligible for USPA medals, and Teiwaz took the place on the podium in Perris. Optic Nerve was still not done competing in 2000. The same line-up competed in November at the NSL Championship in DeLand and took the third place behind PD Blue and Nemesis.

Optic Nerve with a more flexible line-up followed up with another busy year after attending a record number of 11 competitions in 2000. Dr. Joel Shugar, Scott Keeler, Solly Williams, Gary Smith, Carlos Curti, Kyle Collins, Craig Buxton and Joey Jones posted great scores at the FSL meets (15.7 - 14.7 - 14.5 - 15.8 - 14.8 - 13.6 - 14.3) and attended the USPA Nationals and the NSL Championship in 2000, as well.

The America's Cup was integrated into the NSL structure at the end of the 2000 season when AmCup founder Alan Metni focused more on the wind tunnel business. The AmCup trophies became NSL inventory, and the NSL honored Dr. Joel's efforts for the NSL by re-naming the trophy into "NSL Shugar Cup".

The Teiwaz line-up had become more flexible at the same time, and the situation had not changed. Optic Nerve still had the upper hand most of the time in 2001. The USPA Nationals 2001 also had a similar ending for Optic Nerve compared to 2000. Robbie Spencer and his South African friends in the Optic Nerve line-up were now all eligible for USPA medals.

This time, Robbie Spencer competed with Identity Crisis and "stole" the much desired USPA gold medals of the Advanced Class. Optic Nerve with Joel Shugar, Scott Keeler, Solly Williams and Doug Park ended up with USPA silver medals (155 - 148).

Teiwaz had not traveled to Eloy in 2001 and waited for the last showdown of the 2001 season with Optic Nerve at the NSL Championship 2001, the first time at Fantasy of Flight. The original Teiwaz line-up with Mary Inhoffer, Pamela Geoffrey, Mark Stose and Kurt Gaebel competed for the last time.

Pamela Geoffrey was already pregnant for a few weeks and retired after the event. Optic Nerve with Joel Shugar, Scott Keeler, Solly Williams and Doug Park posted a 15.6 average after ten rounds, and Teiwaz finished with a 13.1 average.

Both teams took it much easier after these two busy years, and Dr. Joel Shugar's variations of the team name in 2002 reflected the even more flexible line-ups: Blue Eye Majik - Untrained Eye - Optic Nerve. More skydivers underwent eye surgeries with Dr. Shugar, and more celebrities appeared in the line-ups at the meets.

Dr. Joel Shugar, Scott Keeler, Shannon Pilcher, Kyle Collins and Robbie Spencer competed at three FSL meets (15.2 - 14.8 - 13.3) and once again left different Teiwaz line-ups behind on a regular basis. Joel Shugar and Scott Keeler still had not won gold medals at the USPA Nationals yet. However, the 2002 line-up for the event at Skydive Chicago, with former rival Robbie Spencer and Toby Stafford, volunteered into USPA's Open Class competition and finished with a 11.5 average.

The 2003 season was the shortest one for Dr. Joel Shugar, and he made the best fun out of his two events. Optik Kurves with Dr. Joel Shugar, Scott Keeler, Arianna de Benedetti (Sinapsi PD) and Lise Aune (DeLand Norgies) competed only at the USPA Nationals and finished with a 12.8 average. The lack of Dr. Joel's team training allowed Teiwaz with a very different line-up (Robert Healy, Scott Franklin, Robert Chromy, Kurt Gaebel) to stay ahead of Optik Kurves in Lake Wales.

Dr. Joel obviously enjoyed the company of his world class female competitors and replaced his friend, team mate and partner, Scott Keeler, with Airspeed's Eliana Rodriguez for the 4-way competition at SkyQuest 2003. Joel Shugar, Arianna de Benedetti, Lise Aune and Eliana Rodriguez posted a 12.7 average at Fantasy of Flight in November.

Teiwaz had already turned into a completely new project with different line-ups at almost each meet by then. As a result of the new concept, the team has been able to attend each meet of the Florida Skydiving League in the past three years. Dr. Joel's line-ups were very flexible, as well. However, his work did not allow him to train or attend meets on a regular basis.

The showdowns between Teiwaz and Optic Nerve line-ups did not happen very often any longer, however, the friendly rivalry was still there whenever there was an opportunity. The 2004 season brought Optic Nerve and Teiwaz together at the Shamrock Showdown. Optic Nerve with Dr. Joel Shugar, Scott Keeler, Joey Jones and Doug Park finished with a 12.9 average, and Teiwaz with Robert Healy, Rusty Lewis, Ron Hill and Kurt Gaebel posted a 15.4 average.

Optik Kurves with Dr. Joel Shugar, Scott Keeler, Arianna de Benedetti and Lise Aune also competed at the USPA Nationals 2004 in the Open Class and posted an 11.1 average in Perris. The same line-up took on Teiwaz once again at the NSL Championship the same year in November. This time, Alex Pincus, Robert Chromy, Ron Hill and Kurt Gaebel defended the Teiwaz honors successfully (145 - 127).

The 2005 season was a complete washout for Dr. Joel. He could not attend any of the meets before the NSL Championship in November and had recruited a promising Optic Nerve line-up for SkyQuest 2005: Dr. Joel Shugar, Scott Keeler, Thomas Hughes and Doug Park. Unfortunately, the weather situation forced this line-up to give up before making a jump.

This did not mean that Dr. Joel Shugar would give up his efforts as a passionate 4-way competitor. The beginning of the 2006 season offered the next opportunity for a fun event, which included the next showdown with Teiwaz - the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2006.

Dr. Joel's Optic Nerve showed up in DeLand with Solly Williams, Bob Byrne, Marco Arrigo (formerly Sinapsi PD) and Thiago Muradas. Marco Arrigo had to leave after Saturday's seven rounds, and Thiago Muradas from Brazil helped out on Sunday in the point slot while jumping with Last Second at the same time. Teiwaz "rented out" Bob Byrne for the March meet in DeLand.

Optic Nerve finished under the challenging circumstances with an impressive 14.1 average. However, Teiwaz used the opportunity to register another rare victory. Kris Byrne, Anton Kovalev, Robert Chromy and Kurt Gaebel came up with a 15.7 average and finished one position ahead of Optic Nerve.

However, Dr. Joel is eager to put together more line-ups for this year's competitions and has already made connections. The NSL News did not know whether he would already challenge Teiwaz in Lake Wales this weekend. Bob Byrne is not available since he will be back in the Teiwaz line-up tomorrow. Dr. Joel might have prepared a surprise for this competition. If not tis time, then Optic Nerve will be back at a later event, or maybe Optik Kurves, or Untrained Eyes, or Eyes on Florida. Teiwaz will probably be there waiting.