posted Jan 30th, 2012 - The NSL News has to switch back to the preview of the Shamrock Showdown 2012 after great news came in from the Uited Kingdom.

Julia Foxwell confirmed for Satori that her team has finalized the travel plans to Florida in March. This adds another world class 4way team to the field of top teams. Satori now represents the 11th country at this year's Shamrock, which makes it more and more like a World Meet at the beginning of the 2012 season.

It's not the first time that Satori attends the Shamrock Showdown. The first Satori lineup of 2007/2008 (Julie Foxwell, Katie Woods, Liz Matthews, Aaron Faith) launched the Satori project with the team's first competition in March 2008 in DeLand. The 18.9 average was only good enough for the 9th place in the world class field of 2008. However, it was the beginning of a successful team project, a competition season with six meets and the first UK silver medals in 4way.

Shamrock Showdown 2008		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	18,7,15	9,10,14	4,F,M,A	L,H,E,6	3,P,5	G,C,J,D,B	12,13,Q	1,16,20	21,N,O,2	19,11,22	Total	Avg
1	USA Airspeed Odyssey	21	22	32	30	25	42	22	17	22	19	252	25.2
2	France Maubeuge	21	18	30	28	24	45	21	19	22	19	247	24.7
3	Canada Evolution	18	19	27	27	20	36	19	17	20	17	220	22.0
4	Russia Black Cat	19	17	27	29	23	42	18	16	21	-	212	23.6
5	Golden Knights Black	19	19	29	30	22	43	19	18	-	-	199	24.9
6	DeLand Groove	19	21	28	29	21	40	18	17	-	-	193	24.1
7	USA Fastrax	18	16	27	28	24	39	19	16	-	-	187	23.4
8	USA Perris Fury	19	17	25	31	22	43	-	-	-	-	157	26.2
9	UK Satori	16	16	22	26	18	25	16	12	-	-	151	18.9
10	Teiwaz Red	11	17	21	21	16	27	15	14	-	-	142	17.8

Bodyflight Storm, brandnew 4way world champion in the female category, won the UK Nationals 2008, and it took another year until Satori eventually took over the 4way top spot in the United Kingdom. Former XL member John McIver was guiding Satori to this position when he replaced Liz Matthews in the Center Inside slot in 2009.

Satori has not given up the top spot in the United Kingdom ever since, even though the lineup has changed again. Katie Woods left the team at the end of the 2010 season, and Ian "Milko" Hodkinson has been the Satori Point in 2011. Satori now launches the 2012 season with the same lineup as last year.

This year has the same travel agenda as in 2008. The competition season begins with the Shamrock Showdown followed by the World Challenge 2012. Satori 2008 made the TOP 10 in Bedford with a 22.9 average in 8th place.

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Julia Foxwell now explained the team plans for the 2012 season, which might lift Satori to a new scoring and performance level: "We would like to go for it as much as budget can allow, and we are aiming for 600 jumps in Skydive Hibaldstow in the UK and Skydive Spain in Seville."

That is more training than any Satori lineup has put together yet, and the team was already performing on a 20-point average last year. The training conditions seem to be ideal, as Julia Foxwell added: "The beauty of both DZ's is when its busy they have multiple aircraft (Dorniers), and if its quieter they use the Finist - so you always get the jumps in. We have often completed over 20 jumps a day well before tea time, the aircraft are super fast!" And tea time is as important in England as lunch time in France...

The Satori Academy project is also going very well. The tryouts for the 2012 season were completed last week, and it was twice as busy as last year. The number of participating teams has doubled to 10 this year, and Satori will have teams in all four competition classes. The training for the Satori Academy teams will take place at Skydive Spain and Skydive Hibaldstow, as well. All ten teams will compete at the UK Nationals 2012.

Julia Foxwell also said that the general public in the United Kingdom takes more interest in the sport now. Sky-TV has just finished editing a documentary that covers mainly the competition between Satori and SonicNutz in the run up and during the UK Nationals 2011. The show will be aired over four 22-minute episodes in over 50 countries.

She said that there is a possibility for a similar TV project this year, which is great PR for the sport.

The Shamrock Showdown/World Challenge combination is just the beginning of a very exciting 2012 season for Satori. Satori wants to to attend other competitions in Europe to build up this lineup's competition experience before the World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2012 in Dubai.