posted Mar 10th, 2009 - The NSL News mentioned on 20 February 2009 that a new world class lineup has started with team training. There was not much information available at that time, except the names of the team members: Shannon Pilcher, Ian Bobo, Thomas Hughes and Gary Beyer.

There still is not much more information available at the moment, however, bits trickle in, piece by piece. The NSL News has learned that the new lineup will represent Skydive Spaceland in Texas, the host of this year's USPA Nationals.

Shannon Pilcher, former DeLand Fire 4-way world champion of 2006 and PD Factory Team member, sent the first team photo to the NSL News today. The Spaceland team recently completed a windtunnel training camp at Paraclete XP in Raeford, which was apparently the first time that this lineup flew together.

The new team will compete at the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2009, and Skydive Spaceland's owner, Steve Boyd, plans to visit the event and see what his new team has to offer in competition. This brings additional drama to the event in DeLand

The first showdown of the 2009 season between Airspeed Odyssey and France Maubeuge, gold and silver medalists at the World Meet 2008 in France, is already exciting enough on the international agenda. The Russian duel between Cross Road and Crystal is also under NSL News observation, while Aerokart Deep Blue, NRG from the Netherlands and Fast Arrows from the Czech Republic add more international flair to the Shamrock atmosphere.

However, there is at least as much drama on the national level. The USPA Nationals 2009 is the qualification event for the World Meet 2010 in Russia. The NSL News has already covered the competition between Airspeed Odyssey and Perris Fury extensively. These two teams have been the only top contenders for the status as the US national team in 2010 so far.

This situation has changed ever since Shannon Pilcher, Ian Bobo, Thomas Hughes and Gary Beyer decided to form the Spaceland team this year. The new lineup is far behind in training, of course, compared to Airspeed and Fury, but it will probably catch up very quickly.

In fact, Shannon Pilcher and Ian Bobo would probably don't even need any more training together at all. They have been training and competing together since the Genesis times at Georgia Tech in the mid 90s. They made it to the very top together when they won the World Championship of Formation Skydiving in Germany 2006 with DeLand Fire, and they know each other like twin brothers - on the ground and in the air.

Thomas Hughes has also already spent quite some time with the two world champions of 2006. In fact, he was the alternate for DeLand Fire and brought his own gold medal from Germany. He filled DeLand Fire slots on a regular basis in the preparation for the World Meet 2006.

Only former Airspeed member and 8-way world champion Gary Beyer has not spent much time with the other three team members. However, it will not take much time until he is familiar with the new team's style.

The 2-team race for the USPA gold medals this year may have suddenly turned into a 3-team competition. The Shamrock Showdown 2009 will be the first serious test for the new team. Airspeed Odyssey and Perris Fury will continue with their own battle, but they will also have their eyes on the new challenger.

The NSL News will surely follow the development of the new team. The 2009 season in the USA has probably become more exciting now than it has already been so far. The FSL Shamrock Showdown 2009 begins with the first two rounds in the afternoon of March 20.