The Results of the National Kids Competition

Walking into any wind tunnel on October 13th might have felt like an ordinary evening if you didn't know any better. If it was your first time, perhaps you thought there were always this many kids and adolescents hanging around, perhaps you thought there was always an upbeat and exciting atmosphere, maybe the kids in matching bootie suits and helmets looked like any other flyers. However, for the participants & parents of the First National Kids Competition, it was anything but ordinary. The kids taking part in this monumental event were given the chance to pursue a goal in the sport that they love. They were given the chance to perform on a grander stage than ever before. They were given the chance to shine!

If you did know better, you would know it was a special evening. Some tunnels had DJs blasting beats on the flight deck, some had news cameras filming the flying, others had cotton candy machines spinning up sweet treats. But what they all had in common was a room full of passion and determination. For months leading up to the event, dedicated parents were driving their kids across town to their nearest wind tunnel. Kids were joining forces to create two-way teams, working with their coaches on generating dive flows and engineering them for maximum efficiency. The majority of kids (and likely adults too) would prefer to spend their flight time doing fun stuff like flips and tricks, but formation skydiving requires patience and focus. The discipline required to perform in this event is substantial. Memorizing the blocks and randoms of the dive pool and the specific grip placements is not easy - much less performing them.

The training required to achieve this kind of skill is massive- Toronto held Scrambles events to prepare kids for a competitive atmosphere while others offered extended Kids Club sessions. Team C-Squared from Austin participated in two back-to-back Weekly Pass specials where they flew over 3 hours of tunnel time in just 2 weeks. Dallas offered discounts at their weekly Kids Club league with registration in the event.

But becoming a proficient formation flyer isn't just about getting the most tunnel time, but also getting the best coaching. Jett Davis of J2D2 was coached by various Chicago-area FS champions such as Eric Bambach from Jettstream Tango. Kids in Virginia Beach were coached by multiple world champion Chris Wagner and kids in Denver coached by VFS extraordinaire Josh Evans. 

In the end, an astonishing 28 teams from 11 different wind tunnels participated. No one could have guessed the enormity of the skill that was involved. The top team, FlashPoint from SkyVenture Montreal scored 228 points with a 38 point average. Amazing considering they're only given 35 seconds of time in which to be scored! Second place was grabbed by Tunnel Devils of iFLY Toronto with 185 total points and a 30.83 point average. In third place came iFLY Austin's Team C-Squared with 160 points and an average of 26.6!

Some fun facts about the very first National Kids Competition:

1. iFLY Toronto featured 5 teams, all of which made it into the top 10.

2. The youngest person in the top 10 was Yusra, age 8, from Toronto's team Chicks That Rip.

3. The youngest competitor was Alyssa Lemmon from iFLY Dallas at age 6. Her teammate, Cason Cromer, was second youngest at just 7 years old, and their team name was Lightening Birds.

4. There were 3 sets of twins in the competition - C-Squared from Austin, Squared from SF Bay, and Twinning from VA Beach.

5. There were 2 teams named Tunnel Devils - one from Toronto and one from Dallas. 

 

Watch videos of these incredible kids on YouTube!

Full photo album on the IBA Facebook page.

Final Results are here: