posted Dec 26th, 2014 - A very interesting situation develops slowly and carefully, literally, in the United Kingdom.

It is exactly a 9-month development and will end when Julia Swallow, Satori's Center Outside, has delivered her baby. She was pregnant during the UK Nationals 2014, as the minutes of the BPA (British Parachute Association) Council Meeting on 7 October 2014 confirmed: "Satori had not been able to compete in the Nationals, as a team member had started her pregnancy."

The report also broke the news that Satori has plans with a new lineup, which includes Satori members Julia Swallow and John McIver, plus former XL members Pete Allum and Steve Hamilton. The new Satori lineup wants to train and compete next year and represent the United Kingdom at the FAI World Cup 2015.

World Meet 2003		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	4way Open Class	1-11-12	M-J-E-10	K-16-6	13-14-5	D-22-4	9-C-Q-N	F-19-21	2-20-L	18-B-3	8-P-7	Total	Avg
1	Maubeuge (FR)	16	26	23	19	21	37	24	21	19	23	229	22.9
2	Golden Knights (US)	17	24	22	19	18	35	22	18	19	20	214	21.4
3	DeLand Norgies (NO)	13	24	21	19	18	36	19	16	19	21	206	20.6
4	XL (UK)	14	22	21	19	17	34	21	18	19	20	205	20.5

It is great news for the United Kingdom that the three XL members of 2003 are ready to help bring back British 4-way competition to world class and medal level. Sebastian XL, with John McIver, Pete Allum, Steve Hamilton and Thomas Hughes in the lineup (Rob Stevenson on camera) missed the bronze medals the last time by one single point behind the DeLand Norgies in 2003.

However, the surprising and quick comeback for the United Kingdom in 2015, with Julia Swallow for Satori, required BPA support and an exemption, as this Satori lineup would not be eligible to compete for the United Kingtdom after missing the national championships this year.

BPA's Competition Chair Ian Marshall explained in the minutes that "the normal criterion to be selected as one of the four 4-way teams is usually the top 3 AAA and the top AA team in our delegation to the 2015 World Cup in FS". He added that "normally, selection was based on performance in the Nationals (the 2014 Nationals for the 2015 World Cup)".

UK Nationals 2014		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	B,O,7,22	20,J,10	9,M,E,18	12,2,Q	N,P,F,13	4,G,19	A,6,H,C	8,L,D,15	14,16,3	5,1,17	Total	Avg
1	Voodoo	20	15	24	16	24	18	26	17	16	19	195	19.5
2	Vision 99	20	16	22	16	22	16	22	17	16	18	185	18.5
3	Kaizen	21	15	23	16	20	17	24	17	15	16	184	18.4
4	4mula	16	15	19	16	23	16	21	17	15	16	174	17.4
5	Bodyflight Isis	18	15	21	13	19	17	22	17	15	16	173	17.3

Satori claimed that the team had not been able to compete at the national championships due to the pregnancy, and the BPA Council acknowledged a special situation "in the light of the track record of the team and of its team members historically".

The Council specified that "consideration of an exemption for Team Satori was based on the assumption that Pete Allum was eligible to represent the UK" and granted Satori the exemption with a 4-3-1 vote, based on "their past performance suggesting they were probably our best hope of winning a medal in 4-way FS at the 2015 World Cup".

There are still a few obstacles in Satori's way, as the BPA Council pointed out. The exemption only stands if Pete Allum will be eligible to compete for the United Kingdom: "If this turned out not to be the case, any exemption would not stand, even if Pete Allum was replaced."

Pete Allum competed for Italy in 2006, 2010 and 2012. However, he was not in the Italian eX3MO lineup at the FAI World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2014 and would easily fulfill the recent FAI representation rules.

There is still another obstacle that needs to be overcome before Satori will be able to compete at the FAI World Cup 2015. The team that would have to make room for Satori might offer opposition to the BPA ruling.

BPA Council member Karen Bain reported that she had received an e-mail from Team 4mula, who would potentially be displaced by Team Satori’s exemption if the other eligible teams (Voodoo, Vision 99) accepted their invitations to go to the World Cup.

Team 4mula, with player coach Joey Jones, asked the BPA Council whether they could appeal the ruling. Competition Chair Ian Marshall said that the BPA grievance procedure would apply, and that any appeal should be made to the Competitions Committee.

Satori also applied to represent the United Kingdom at the World Air Games 2015 in Dubai. However, only one team per nation can be sent to this event, and Voodoo is UK's official national team in 2015. The BPA Council voted unanimously not to grant this exemption, and Voodoo will compete in Dubai.

The XL reunion of the 2003 lineup is almost complete with Satori. Thomas Hughes will probably not leave Arizona Airspeed, and Julia Swallow has to fill his slot...