posted Mar 11th, 2007 - The NSL-TV coverage of the Valentine's Meet 2007 keeps a lot of attention still focused on the first competition of the 2007 season. It almost distracts from the fact that the next high-profile competition is already coming up next weekend.

The FSL Shamrock Showdown 2007 is coming up for the 6th time at Skydive DeLand. The first Shamrock Showdown with the current format was already held in 2002. It used to be the third meet of the regular Florida Skydiving League season in 2002 and 2003. The FSL ran meets in January and February back then, as well. The FSL decided in 2004 to offer teams and competitors in Florida a longer winter break. The Shamrock Showdown has been the official FSL season opener ever since.

DeLand Majik members and FSL management came up with the idea of the "Shamrock Showdown Skins Game" in 2002. The March event at Skydive DeLand had become very popular, with many international teams using the opportunity of including a serious competition in their winter training in Florida.

DeLand Majik and FSL management were looking for ways how to make the competition in DeLand even more attractive and came up with the idea of the Skins Game. Prizes, including serious cash amounts, were given to the winning teams round by round, before and after handicap. The skydiving industry and local business owners helped to provide the prizes.

This year's record jackpot stands already at $4,100 cash at the moment. Great additional prizes are also well worth the registration. Team Fastrax offers ten free team jumps plus free coaching at the team's new summer home in Ohio for both overall winners in the AA Class and the A Class. Skydive DeLand added $400 cash, plus two free team jumps for two teams. The overview of all prizes and the sponsors will be posted very soon.

The rules for the Shamrock Showdown's Skins Game have been quite simple. All AAA Class teams can win prizes for the highest scores of each round. In addition, the overall winners of all competition classes have been included in the prize giving. The first three rounds of the meet do not offer any prizes. These rounds will be used to determine the handicap for the AAA Class teams. The first prize of the Skins Game is on stake for round four.

DeLand Majik won the competition on home turf the first three years after the inauguration of the Shamrock Showdown (22.6 in 2002, 22.1 in 2003, 21.3 in 2004). The challengers included world class teams, such as Airspeed Vertical, Sebastian XL and Sinapsi PD in 2002, Golden Knights and Sinapsi PD in 2003, Genesis and Sinapsi PD in 2004.

DeLand Fire, with former Majik member Gary Smith, successfully continued the winning streak of the home teams in 2005. Belgium's Spa Hayabusa, Team Fastrax, DeLand Majik's 2005 line-up, Italy's Sinapsi PD and the Golden Knights were the challengers two years ago. DeLand Fire opened the season with a 20.7 meet average and ended up winning the gold medals at the USPA Nationals 2005.

The Shamrock Showdown 2006 was an interesting start into the World Meet season. Italy's Sinapsi PD beat DeLand Fire with a 23.9 average in March and then lost against the same team in August in Germany. Norway's Arcteryx gained confidence for the 2006 season after a 21.3 average at the Shamrock Showdown, as well as the DaneZ with a 19.1 average. Fastrax' 2006 line-up posted a 20.6 average.

The upcoming Shamrock Showdown 2007 lives up fully to the event's name. The NSL News mentioned already several times that this year's three US top contenders are ready to impress their direct rivals for the first time. Airspeed Odyssey, Team Fastrax and the Golden Knights each have apparently the same chances to win rounds and the whole competition.

Airspeed Odyssey has already posted an impressive 22.2 average after ten rounds at the Valentine's Meet 2007 in February. Team Fastrax and the Golden Knights were obviously not too impressed and offered their own footage of the same jumps during recent training camps. The competition at the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2007 will tell the whole truth at this point in time.

Norway's new Arcteryx line-up will surely observe the performance of the US top teams very carefully. The Norwegian team has already trained a lot this winter and will continue to prepare for the World Meet 2008 in France. Most likely, one of the three US top teams next weekend in DeLand will be the US national team of 2008. Arcteryx will have the chance to determine the exact distance to the very top of the world in March 2007 after the ten jumps of the Shamrock Showdown.

The two all-female line-ups, Fastrax Blue and Germany's Chicas, will also use the competition for a check of the current position at the beginning of the 2007 season. Both teams have very good chances to represent their countries at next year's World Meet in France.

Last not least, the Shamrock Showdown also includes the annual confrontation between Optic Nerve and Teiwaz. Both teams are still working on the line-ups for the competition. The local 4-way fans have also not given up yet on the possibility that DeLand Groove might defend the home turf against the very strong challengers. The NSL News will introduce more of the already registered teams in the upcoming week.