posted Sep 23rd, 2012 - The latest edition of the Blue Skies Mag included a new article for the NSL News column. Topic was the UK Nationals 2012, and it was not the athletic part of the event that caught the NSL News attention.

4way Formation Skydiving competition in the United Kingdom has once again come to a new record participation this year. It was interesting to go back in time and give it some thought how the growth of the British 4way and 8way community can be explained.

The Queen does not really have anything to do with that. However, perhaps one day the British government will support skydiving competition in the United Kingdom as well as the French government does. There are other main factors at the moment, and one of them is the Satori Academy. Other skydiving school projects help too.

Turning Points - God Save the Queen

72 - That's the number of 4-way teams that competed at the United Kingdom's national championships in August this year. 72!!! The UK teams already set a record in participation with 55 teams last year, after 54 in 2010. After the 55, they talked about aiming at the U.S. numbers, thinking that they could get to the same attendance level as the biggest skydiving country in the world. Really...? Maybe a little bit overconfident after getting to host the Olympics...?

The answers are, "Yes they can," and, "No, they are not overconfident." The numbers always tell the truth: 65 teams competed at U.S. Nationals in Eloy last year, 57 teams in Ottawa in 2009 and then 59 in 2010, 55 in 2008, 58 in 2007 and 63 in 2006. Seventy-two teams at the UK Nationals 2012... This alone is impressive enough, but there is more behind it.

It is happening at a time when belly flyers are arguably struggling for survival in formation skydiving competition, or in skydiving competition in general. VFS 4-way has been touted as the 4G of skydiving for a while. And it is, athletically, in my eyes. Unfortunately, this new-age discipline faces many serious obstacles, which have not been overcome yet. Four VFS 4-way teams competed at the UK Nationals 2012. In other words, 4-way and 8-way formation skydiving competition is far from going under; it is still the main event at any national or international championship event.

What happened in the United Kingdom? Andy Scott, British Parachute Association (BPA) manager of formation skydiving competition at that time, renamed BPA's Grand Prix competition series to the United Kingdom Skydiving League (UKSL) and synchronized the British competition classes fully with the NSL Network in 2006. British skydivers had a fitting arena from then on, and the participation began to grow consistently.

The beauty of this setup is that the UKSL runs under the BPA umbrella. Andy Scott's 2006 move for the UKSL brought the same four competition classes to the national championships, automatically and at the same time. The teams had the opportunity to attend monthly UKSL meets, knowing they would find the same format at the UK Nationals. Year by year, teams and competitors moved up from category to category through the whole system, while new skydivers started wherever they wanted to join the 4-way fun. The complete system has been open for everybody, whether pickup teams and scramblers or future world champions, and it was synchronized from bottom to top.

Then there is the Satori factor. The team appeared on the UK 4-way scene for the first time in 2008, with Julia Foxwell, Aaron Faith, Liz Matthews, and Katie Woods. The lineup, scoring level, and purpose have changed over the years. Julia "Jules" Foxwell is the only original member left, and remains the heart and soul of the team. She has now three guys around her—Aaron Faith, John Mclver, and Ian "Milko" Hodgkinson—and they have turned Satori into a team factory. You read that right: not a tandem factory, a team factory. The Satori Academy generates teams.

The Satori Academy generated and took care of five teams in 2011 (Blue, Green, Red, Purple, and Yellow) and has grown to 11 teams in 2012 (Cobalt, Orange, and Purple in the rookie class; Yellow, Turquoise, Magenta, and Green in A Class; Black and Cyan in AA; and White are the only team in AAA class), not counting the Satori national 4-way team itself. Imagine reproducing from 1 to 12 in two years...Satori and 10 of the 11 Academy teams then competed at the UK Nationals. Are you still surprised about the 72-team record participation?

The Satori members are not the only UK team who recruit and build new teams and lineups. Other experienced competitors are very proactive in this area, including the Bodyflight Aerodyne and Brit Chicks projects. Another amazing and very special UK factor is the proactive domination by female competitors. The United Kingdom has not only become well-known in the skydiving world by winning several sets of gold medals in the female 4-way category. There is a very large participation of female competitors in all categories, and the British 4-way world champions probably became role models, as they also dominated the open class competition for a while.

There is a downside to all those team-building projects in the United Kingdom, though. The British ladies have lost the number one position in the world to France, as the many former world champions don't get together much any longer to train and compete. The Deep Blue lineups and Defenders have taken over the female 4-way competition on the very top.

It is similar in the open class; Satori members are so busy running the Academy that there are limited time and resources for team training. However, this will change in the long term. The United Kingdom has turned into a powerhouse in formation skydiving competition, and it is only a matter of time until the British FS community will produce open class lineups in 4-way and 8-way that will win medals again for the country. Watch out, USA, France and Russia...

So, what does the near future bring to formation skydiving competition in the United Kingdom? Just as with the Olympics, the Queen - who is already a parachutist according to the official promotional London 2012 clip - will eventually want to bring the same fun she had to all Englishmen and women. She will support skydiving with just as many resources as she supported the Olympics. The UK government will begin to support skydiving competition the same way France has been doing it for many years. BPA will have national coaches and select the best competitors for the national lineups who will train full time and win the first gold medals for the United Kingdom. The Queen will be happy.

I am moving to England...