posted Nov 26th, 2011 - The NSL News published a preview of the female 4way competition at the 3rd Dubai Championship 2011 on 16 November 2011 and introduced the lineups from France and Russia, Aerokart Deep Blue Defenders and Illusions.

The third team in the female 4way category is called Team Blue and competes for the United Kingdom. The NSL News mentioned that "Team Blue has the potential to perform at the very top level of female 4way competition without much training at all." A closer look at the lineup (Claire "Sparky" Scott, Liz Matthews, Sarah Cannon-Smith, Julia Foxwell) confirms that Team Blue may even give the French world champions a good competition.

In fact, Team Blue might be the top contender in Dubai. France has only Amelie Tirman of the lineup who won the gold medals for France with Aerokart Deep Blue in Menzelinsk 2010. Laurence Herve and Perrine Sanchez joined the new team in 2011 and won the World Cup 2011 with an 18.9 average. Newest member Stéphanie Texier has not competed yet for Aerodyne Deep Blue Defenders.

World Meet 2010		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	10,7,12	3,11,5	J,M,Q,P,L	19,1,13	N,18,20	K,17,8	2,15,H	4,D,6	O,E,9,G	22,B,16	Total	Avg
1	France Aerodyne Cypres	20	19	47	18	19	20	21	21	32	19	236	23.6
2	UK Team Bodyflight	16	17	44	17	17	19	18	19	30	19	216	21.6

Team Blue, on the other hand, has a wealth of 4way experience and medals under the belt. Claire "Sparky" Scott and Liz Matthews trained and competed together for V-Max between 1999 and 2004. They won the female 4way competition at the World Meet 1999 in Australia and 2003 in France.

Claire "Sparky" Scott and Julia Foxwell were on Airkix, the British 4way team that won the gold medals at the World Meet 2006 in Germany. Claire "Sparky" Scott and Sarah Cannon-Smith finally won the last gold medals for the United Kingdom at the World Meet 2008 in Maubeuge with Bodyflight Storm.

Liz Matthews and Julia Foxwell also spent time together with Satori in 2008. Liz Matthews left Satori at the end of the 2008 season to have a baby, whilst Julia Foxwell carried on and is still with the team. Satori has been the British 4way champion in the Open Class and the national team of the past years and will once again compete for the United Kingdom in 2012.

Another Team Blue combination was the scratch team Pussy Galore where Claire "Sparky" Scott and Liz Matthews joined forces with Tarnya Hollis and Amanda Kemp to win the silver medals behind Satori at the UK Nationals 2009. This team became the national team in the female 4way category for the World Meet 2010 in Menzelinsk.

Claire "Sparky" Scott then left the team to have a baby, and Sarah Cannon-Smith replaced her. Team Bodyflight won the silver medals with a 21.6 average in Russia last year. Aerodyne Cypres, aka as Aerokart Deep Blue, won gold with a 23.6 average.

Team Blue member Sarah Cannon-Smith also competed with Bodyflight Aerodyne at the World Challenge, the UK Nationals and the World Cup in Germany this year. However, the 3rd Dubai Championship next week brings the four former world champions in the female category together in the Team Blue lineup. There is a good chance that they make it more difficult for France to maintain the top position than it may appear.