2026 USPA National Collegiate Skydiving Championships

Zephyrhills’ own city motto is “Jump Right In.” That’s not a slogan a tourism board invented for this piece — it’s been the city’s for years, and it’s built on a dropzone that calls itself, on its own gate and website, “The World Famous Z-Hills.” For six days this winter, that dropzone hosts a national championship.

The USPA National Collegiate Skydiving Championships run Monday, Dec. 28, 2026 through Saturday, Jan. 2, 2027 at Skydive City, the Zephyrhills dropzone that’s been operating for more than 30 years. College skydiving teams from around the country compete across five disciplines: 2-way formation skydiving, 4-way formation skydiving, 6-way formation skydiving, sport accuracy, and 2-way vertical formation skydiving. Teams build and hold formations in freefall, then get scored jump after jump through the week.

Skydive City isn’t making up its own hype here. By its own published numbers, skydivers from more than 80 countries, every U.S. state and every Canadian province have jumped at this dropzone — the kind of reach that’s hard to find anywhere else in Pasco County. The same facility hosted the USPA’s Canopy Piloting Nationals this past September, where competitors flew into a dedicated competition swoop pond at speeds that make the sport look more like an air show than a hobby.

Watching doesn’t require a ticket or a jump of your own. This dropzone has a history of keeping its competitions open to the public — lawn chairs, sunscreen and binoculars recommended, with restrooms, picnic tables and an onsite restaurant on the grounds — making it a legitimate family afternoon for anyone who just wants to watch parachutes come down, not a specialist-only event. That said, that open-to-spectators pattern is based on how this dropzone has run its other recent competitions; nothing on the collegiate championship’s own page spells out spectator policy specifically, so call ahead if you’re planning a special trip just to watch.

One thing worth knowing before driving out: the schedule runs straight into Skydive City’s own New Year’s event, Winterfest, which overlaps the tail end of the collegiate week (Dec. 30-Jan. 3). Expect the grounds to be busy with recreational jumpers on top of the college teams.

Good to know: Skydive City Z-Hills, 4241 Sky Dive Lane, Zephyrhills, FL 33542. Monday, Dec. 28, 2026 through Saturday, Jan. 2, 2027, 8am-6pm daily. Free to watch from the ground; competitors register through USPA.

Photo: Skydive City, from the dropzone’s own website. Representative image of night jumps over the dropzone’s swoop pond, not the collegiate championship itself.

More info: College Skydiving Teams Chase National Titles at Zephyrhills' World-Famous Z-Hills This Winter