Kapow!
October 28th, 2009
Nationals is something you have to experience yourself to totally understand it. I guess most things in life are that way. Competing at Spaceland was one of the greatest experiences in my life so far. We got a glimpse of what it's like to really be a team and I'll be riding this buzz for a while. I am amazed at how far we have come in such a short time and equally amazed at how far we have to go. Competing this year was one of the best learning experiences we have had as a team and we will be ready for whatever may happen in the future at Nationals or competitions abroad.
In round one Eric had a premature opening and that shook us up quite a bit. It sucks watching your friend disappear knowing they are likely in pain or worse. Fortunately he was ok, but it was a reminder that anything can happen at any time. The rest of the rounds were met with errors that could have been avoided with more experience and more focus. However, there is no other result from this competition that could make me as proud of our team. We were one of only 5 teams in the country that made the effort and in spite of some adversity we still endeavored to perform better after making errors. Jump seven made everything we did in preparation over the past year worth it. Many people cave in the face of adversity, but Kaboom! made it the best jump of our routine that we had ever made in practice or competition. I have never had more fun in my life and I can't wait to go rock the sky next year when we will be in Chicago.
Thanks to everyone that has helped along the way! We could fill up a book with the names of people that have gone out of their way for us and we appreciate it more than we are able to express. Selwyn Facey has certainly done a lot for us as a coach and a friend. It was much more than we ever expected and I hope at some point we can repay it. We look forward to training with him in the tunnel this winter and all season next year. Thanks to Jan Lane for hooking us up with Selwyn and for all of the mental training along the way. Huge thanks to the management and staff at Skydive Carolina. Without their help there would have been a lot less jumps made and we sincerely appreciate the support. Danny supports his teams from the beginning to the end! Special thanks to Nicole, Gene, and Billie for being so willing to be involved and for all of their help whether it be during training or at Nationals.
We also want to thank everyone that has helped us learn how to freefly, jumped video in a pinch, ever told us good luck, or simply showed any interest or support at all. The people at our home dz are awesome. Thanks to Amy Chmelecki for coaching our rookie-flailing-asses and for supporting us while at Nationals. Thanks to those that packed for us on training days, especially Steve Vaughn. 40+ pack jobs in two days is a lot for anyone, especially when you have other things to do and the parachutes aren't exactly small.
Last but certainly not least our thanks go out to Eric Miller. Amy and I had decided to start a 3-way team at a point where I had very few freefly jumps and neither of us had been close enough to touch each other on a jump after exit. We had just gotten fall rates, erratic movement, and flailing butt-flying figured out when we decided to go to Deland one sleeting day at Chester. Eric was doing the PD Factory Team tryouts and we grabbed him for a drink and dinner near the end of the day. Several shots and some chicken wings later we asked if he would be willing to coach us as a team. I'm not sure what he was thinking at that moment but I'm sure there was some internal laughter going on. However, he agreed to do what he could and we parted ways for the evening.
The next morning we found a somewhat hungover Eric with video cameras in hand walking very slowly to the packing tent and that was the real beginning. Eric jumps for a living and his time could be better spent doing tandems or video. However, he came down weekend after weekend to Chester and helped us without any complaints or reservations. We grew by leaps and bounds the first part of the year and team moral soared with the realization that coaching truly changes the game. Eric soon told us of his plans to move to NY and we were sad to see him go. What an understatement. We were afraid to lose our coach and sad to see a friend go so far away. In spite of the distance Eric continued to stay in touch via phone, chat, and email. He asked for video every time we spoke and critiqued it as if he was sitting next to me. Just before Nationals and just as it ended my phone was ringing. It means a lot to us ... more than he realizes ... Thanks Eric.
One last thing and I will shut up. There is a rule in competition that says that if an event goes two years in a row with less than 4 teams entering it will be removed from competition. Had it only been Isis, Outlaws, and Kaboom at Nationals this year there would be no Intermediate Freefly event next year. Thanks to Simon Bones and the people from his team that put together teams at the last minute to keep Intermediate Freefly alive. Also huge congratulations go to Karina, Shannon, and Jerm from Isis for their Gold medal! We got to know these three a little better on the way to altitude while practicing and competing. There's definitely a lot of skill there and they're really nice people to boot.
So it's off to the tunnel for us and on to next season! Stay tuned for new videos and other rambling from yours truly.
Until next time...
Carolina Kaboom!
Wowzah!
October 5th, 2009
We anxiously anticipated this past weekend with Selwyn as it was our last coached weekend prior to Nationals. It was also the weekend that we would finalize our routine and we really needed good weather for all three days of the boogie. Luck was on our side and we were able to get in 23 training jumps and complete our routine! Many thanks again to Selwyn for coaching and to Steve for packing for us so that we could make more loads. Now we have one more weekend to polish before we leave for Houston next Tuesday the 13th.
We have discussed from the beginning how nice it would be to have a coach at Nationals, but it was just too cost-prohibitive given all the jumping and tunnelling we have done. We found out this weekend that Selwyn will be at Nationals competing at the same time and he said he would coach us while we train and compete! In addition, Jan will be there for our first couple of days and says he can help us get our heads straight before we jump into the fray. We have never felt so lucky or ever had so much fun! I feel like a 5 year old kid at his first skating rink birthday party.
The last jump on Sunday makes 285 training jumps for us this year. Thanks to Danny, James, Courtney, and pilot Eric for helping to make that happen. We have next weekend and 2.5 days prior to competition in Houston to continue refining what we have. Also thanks to Annette who is embroidering our team logos onto our jumpsuits as I type this. We're going to look so snazzy it's ridiculous.
Until next time...
Carolina Kaboom!
Shizzam!
September 16th, 2009
September is well underway and we are getting closer to Nationals. This past Sunday was great in the tunnel with Selwyn. Each of us learned a lot and mostly worked on head-down for muscle memory and transitions. In addition, Howie came with us and flew in the tunnel for a half hour! He got in on his belly, then on his back, and was up and sit flying before it was all over. Woot! Have you met Howie?
People have asked about t-shirts and stickers but we haven't printed any so far. The reason for this is that t-shirts don't end up selling very well. We would be selling them to raise money for Nationals but have no idea how many we would need. In an effort to kill two birds with one stone I set up a Cafe Press store. You can find it here. A very small portion of the proceeds get to us, but every little bit helps. If anyone is interested in decals let me know and I will place another order. They are super cheap and look a lot better than what Cafe Press has in their sticker section.
The video page finds a new addition, the Kaboom! Highlights Video. Eric put it together and it looks fantastic! Best video guy ... ever! He even went out and bought music that was royalty free so that we can put our money into skydiving and not into an RIAA lawsuit. We have recently found out about several artists willing to let their music be used free for non-commercial purposes. If anyone has any leads on that sort of thing please drop us a line.
We're looking forward now to the October session with Selwyn in Chester. It will be our last coached training day before Nationals so it's rather important. We're at 254 training jumps this season and hoping this weekend's weather will hold up for us to get in some more. In addition, September 28th is just around the corner which marks the date that Amy and I made our first 2-way jump together. It's amazing to me how much we have accomplished this season, but it's even more amazing how far we have to go. However, even when we screw up we are having fun and that's all that matters.
Until next time...
Carolina Kaboom!
Kaboom!
September 1st, 2009
It's hard to believe that it's already September. It seems like the year has flown by and Nationals are just arount the corner. Selwyn coached us in Chester last weekend and I think everyone on the team learned more in those two days than in any of our previous coaching sessions. We managed to double our point average and had a lot of fun! He has a way of bringing out the best in each of us. We know what we need to work on and our confidence is much higher. It's nice to leave a final debrief feeling like you suck a little less than when the weekend began. Many thanks to Selwyn!
September will hold one more tunnel session and then a final coaching weekend with Selwyn in October before we leave. We have 230 jumps so far this season and hope to get in another 100, but that will depend on the weather. So far none of us are overly anxious about competition. We're excited to see how we hold up and even more excited about what next year will bring. We knew when this year started it would be about building fundamental skills and learning how to be a team. Next year will be about honing what we have learned this year and about pushing ourselves further.
We hope you enjoy the site. It will develop as we develop and eventually contain more than just pictures and video. Depending on what sort of internet connection is available we may put up some of the videos from competition each night upon return to the hotel. Minimally they will go up when we return. Until then check back for new media and updates from our tunnel and sky coaching sessions. There is sure to be entertaining video of us plastering Selwyn to the walls of the tunnel or rodeoing each other on exit.
Until next time...
