posted Dec 3rd, 2007 - Team news from the United Kingdom seem to fit perfectly to what the new BPA representative for Formation Skydiving competition, Chris Hollis, had in mind when he recently updated the NSL News. The story on 28 November 2007 explained his goals to make 4-way competition in the United Kingdom even more attractive and bring more teams to the AAA Class competition: "Hopefully, the new name will generate some much needed AAA Class interest and push UK skydiving standards even further."

It is probably a coincidence, however, Hollis will like very much what UK 4-way team Sonic V plans for the 2008 season. Sonic V's 2007 line-up (Helen Arnold, Ana Budjelan, Dave Honeybone, Pete Spedding, with Rob Frost on camera) was the A Class powerhouse this year.

The UK team won the Grand Prix July meet with a 10.3 average, took the A Class gold medals at the UK Nationals 2007 with a 14.5 average and had the first place after two rounds at the ESL Championship 2007 with a 16.0 average. The team had begun to finalize the plans for the 2008 season when things changed all of a sudden.

Unfortunately, the original 2-year plan encountered a problem when this year's Tail, Ana Budjelan, had to leave the team at the end of the season. Sonic V wondered what the future would hold at that point.

The original plan was to continue on and up to the AA Class competition and then move on through the categories. However, after some time considering a 4th team member position Sonic V happened to consider a different solution.

The remaining three team members, Helen Arnold, Dave Honeybone and Pete Spedding, asked John McIver, the team's coach throughout the 2007 season, to join as a player coach. The former XL member and world-class competitor accepted, and the team was excited: "We feel exceptionally lucky to have the opportunity to jump with John and have him as a team member."

The Sonic V 2008 line-up now feels that going to the AAA Class competition is the only way forward. Team speaker Dave Honeybone sees a lot of work ahead for the team members: "So, in 2008 Sonic V will get their heads down and set about learning all the new blocks and slots."

The team's goals for 2008 match the new situation: "We will begin with the view to simply aiming to learn, having fun and enjoying the experience. We will will train at Skydive Spain and Hibaldstow with a similar training plan as in 2007."

The broad and comprehensive competition and coaching experiences of the new player coach will help Sonic V to make the entry into the AAA Class competition much easier.

However, 14 new blocks are waiting to be explored and trained by last year's A Class team, including memory and slot switchers.

The AA Class is usually the next logical step up and brings only eight new blocks without memory to a team for the next competition season. John McIver knows the team well after coaching Sonic V for a year, and the individual skills of the team members are obviously already on a high level. The AAA Class dive pool is still a challenge, and the NSL News will follow the team's progression next year.