posted Feb 6th, 2008 - The last reunion of DeLand Genesis (Shannon Pilcher, Ian Bobo, Kyle Collins, David Van Greuningen, Eric Taylor) was actually planned for last year's USPA Nationals and did not materialize. The next attempt to get together as many of the original members as possible followed for the NSL Championship 2007, with the same unfortunate result.

DeLand Groove instead (Shannon Pilcher, Ian Bobo, Solly Williams, Gary Smith) was more successful with a reunion at the FSL Shamrock 2007. The combination of DeLand Majik members (Solly Williams, Gary Smith) and DeLand Genesis (Shannon Pilcher, Ian Bobo) had won the USPA Nationals in 2006 with a 22.2 average. They had left behind Team Fastrax, Airspeed Odyssey, Perris Fury and the Golden Knights on the way to the gold medals after a few training jumps only.

The same lineup did not make any more training jumps before the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2007 and posted a 21.3 average in March 2007 after the six rounds of the first day. This time, DeLand Groove had no chance to keep up with Airspeed Odyssey, Team Fastrax and the Golden Knights in DeLand.

The DeLand Groove lineup was made of an interesting combination of 4-way world champions. Shannon Pilcher and Ian Bobo, original DeLand Genesis members and world-class Canopy Pilots with the PD Factory Team, are still the reigning 4-way world champions after winning in Germany 2006.

Solly Williams and Gary Smith won the 4-way gold medals with DeLand Majik at the World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2004 in Croatia. Gary Smith continued and won an additional gold medal two years later with Shannon Pilcher and Ian Bobo for DeLand Fire. Natasha Montgomery was the 4th Fire member and became the first female 4-way world champion.

DeLand Groove is now coming back and has added a 5th member to the lineup. Kyle Collins is also an original DeLand Genesis member. He is now the only DeLand Groove member who has not been a 4-way world champion ever since DeLand Genesis and DeLand Majik were formed.

The first DeLand Groove lineup has already trained more in 4-way than any of the team members has done since 2006. Shannon Pilcher, Ian Bobo, Gary Smith and Kyle Collins completed approx. 50 training jumps in January. André Melan from Norway filmed the team. It was the first time that Kyle Collins joined his former DeLand Genesis members with Gary Smith in the lineup.

It was also the first time that Kyle Collins was flying the Point position. He used to be the Center Inside for DeLand Genesis. It is obviously a very new experience for the passionate 4-way competitor who had just waited for the right time to come back to 4-way training and competition.

Gary Smith is back in the Center Outside slot and Kyle Collins' piece partner in the front piece. Shannon Pilcher (Center Inside) and Ian Bobo (Tail) are the same rear piece that won the World Meet in Germany 2006.

DeLand Groove will switch the slots around whenever the lineup changes. Solly Williams was visiting in South Africa during the January training. He has trained and competed in the front and the rear piece with DeLand Majik and DeLand Groove since 2004 and will be ready to plug in anywhere.

The January lineup enjoyed the 4-way jumps and performed already on a world-class performance level, as the videos of the three provided training jumps show. Point Kyle Collins had interrupted his serious 4-way career after DeLand PD Blue finished with a 19.1 average in 4th place at the USPA Nationals 2001.

He still filled slots for Optic Nerve and other pickup teams here and there. However, his professional career and the family had higher priorities. That has not changed. He just could not resist the temptation to commit to low-level training and competition schedule in 2008 when the DeLand Groove opportunity came up.

DeLand Groove's January lineup picked up the training obviously at a much higher performance level compared to DeLand PD Blue in 2001. Point Kyle Collins did not have a problem with the new slot and the higher pace. He still has the same energy and motivation that he spread as the engine for DeLand Genesis and PD Blue.

DeLand Groove has another training camp on the agenda right before the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2008. The lineup has not been determined yet. Most likely, all five members will jump and rotate. In this case, Solly Williams and Shannon Pilcher will have the more entertaining positions with flexible slots, as Gary Smith explained.

The FSL Shamrock Showdown 2008 will be the first competition for DeLand Groove with new member Kyle Collins, and the occasion can hardly be any better or more exciting for all team members. Airspeed Odyssey, France Maubeuge, Perris Fury and Canada's Evolution will provide enough serious competition for DeLand Groove. The home team is eager to offer better resistance this year compared to the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2007.