posted Jan 2nd, 2016 - The first news update this year, with the A Class aftermath of the Clash of Champions 2015 on January 1st, included a brief looking back at the origin of the four traditional NSL competition classes.

The turn of the year was a good opportunity for the review, as the plans for the completion of the NSL competition structure were also published at the end of the year, precisely at the end of the 2001 season.

The NSL News posted an update on December 17th, which introduced the last of the four categories, the Rookie Class.

A few adjustments followed after more discussions with the league directors, which eventually finalized the current set of rules for the Rookie Class.

The Sun Path Products NSL News also found the first 2002 leaderboard that applied all four NSL categories, which was posted after the January meet of the Florida Skydiving League 2002.

Florida SkydivingLeague 1		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class - Teams	C-G-12-4	Q-H-17-K	D-5-E-A	P-22-L-O	14-21-M	Total	Avg
1	Sebastian XL	18	23	23	19 (-1)	17	100	20.0
2	Believe in Majik	11 (-2)	20	17	15	13	76	15.2
3	SuperFly	9	12	11	11	10	53	10.6
4	Jetta	6	10	7 (-2)	7	4	34	6.8
Rank	AA Class - Teams	C-G-4	Q-H-18	D-8-E	P-11-L	14-21	Total	Avg
1	Windline Lighting	11	9	9	11	7	47	9.4
2	Sebastian 7L	11	6 (-1)	6	9	7	39	7.8
Rank	A Class - Teams	C-G-6	Q-H-1	D-2	P-20	15-21	Total	Avg
1	Zero Tolerance Miami	7	4	4	9	5	29	5.8
2	Pahokee 4-Play	7	7	6	6 (-1)	2	28	5.6
3	4-Peace	3	2	1	3 (-2)	1	10	2.0
Rank	Rookie Class - Teams	B-C-G	B-Q-H	B-D-E	B-P-L	B-M-A	Total	Avg
1	Out of Mind	6 (-3)	8	6	7	5	32	6.4
2	Windline Thunder	5	1	1	1	4	12	2.4
3	Pointless	1	2 (-2)	4	2	2	11	2.2

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DID YOU KNOW the NSL Rookie Class?

The basic outline for the NSL 2002 season is complete. As every year, the NSL continues to make improvements in the competition structure. Detected flaws in the system will be eliminated and successful concepts will be continued. Some of the innovations have been reported earlier. Here is some news about the new "Rookie Class".

The A Class competition in 2001 was an overwhelming success. The A Class teams took over a dominating position in the U.S.A. 63% of the teams that participated in the NSL in 2001 were A Class teams (137 of 217).

The other 37% were Open and Advanced Class teams (80). With the new AA Class in the works (16 blocks, 4-5 point sequences), the total number of competitive teams will probably split into three equal thirds.

There was a good number of teams that did not really feel home in the current A Class. At the same time, they did not feel ready for the Open/Advanced Class dive pool and competition.

Hopefully, the three new classes will give everybody a comfortable home for the 2002 season and even increase participation. However, the NSL will now also offer the skydivers at the very grass roots a playground.

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The new Rookie Class is supposed to make the bridge between recreational skydiving and the end of the student status to the first moves in casual skydiving competition even easier to cross.

While the current A Class included a mix of very competitive teams and real beginners, the Rookie Class will be the playground and learning level for the newest members of the NSL club.

The Rookie Class will be a fun playground in a competition environment. While the Rookies will be able to watch the hard-core competitors on site and make contact with them at the same event, their own category will be very casual and much less competitive. The traditional 4-way scramble events are very similar to the format for the new Rookie Class.

The participants of the Rookie Class will have the opportunity to meet people with similar goals for their skydiving future at the NSL meets.

They will have the opportunity to take advantage of the coaching and judging for the competition and share knowledge and experiences with the more experienced competitors on the same event site and the same weekend.

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The rules will be very different than the traditional rules for 4-way competition. Each league will have the chance to create their own set of rules for the Rookie Class events.

The basic ideas are a 60-second working time, a standard exit and a dive pool consisting of only random formations. There will be no penalties and no league rankings.

The participants will form teams for a weekend, make great jumps and learn a lot in a competitive environment.

At the next league event, the same people can get together again in different teams or with new participants and continue with the learning experience.

After the first meets of the first season, the Rookie Class participants will most likely be hungry for more next year. Then, the A Class with the first block techniques and more serious competition and league rankings will be waiting. How does that sound...?