GIRL POWER
The ChatterChicks are an all-female 4-way skydiving team, hailing from the UK. In fact, ChatterChicks are currently the only formation skydiving team in the UK that consists of only females, including camera.
Formed in late 2012, the team all first met at Skydive Chatteris, hence the name ChatterChicks. It was here that Vikki, Tanya, Sarah and Robynne all learnt to skydive in the previous year or so and will always be considered as their home dropzone. Once the girls qualified and got their FS1 stickers, they all gained a great love for Formation Skydiving and with female presence in the sport being outshadowed by the opposite sex, it was suggested by staff member & camera flyer Lorraine Dixcey that the four friends form an all-girl 4-way team. Of course, being very new to the sport the girls could not do it alone. This is when other female staff members Ro and Yo also came to their rescue.
Rowena instantly insisted that she would love to be the teams camera flyer, and with such a flattering offer the girls would have been stupid to say no. And with that, Yo kindly agreed to accompany the girls at their training sessions at Bodyflight Wind Tunnel. It was with Yo that the girls learnt their very first knowledge of 4-way and for her help, the team will be eternally grateful.
So the girls started training as a team in Autumn 2012 and haven't looked back since. Jumping together was sometimes difficult due to the Great British weather but they're in the tunnel at least once every month. It's down to their hardwork and determination that saw the girls enter their first competition, Bodyflight World Challenge, as Rookie in April 2013. It was also around this time that they were very lucky to be chosen by Mars to receive £300 as part of their Mars Milk Fund, set up to help people in whatever hobby it is they partake in.
After a long weekend jumping at Skydive Empuriabrava, the girls were really making progress and decided to aim high and started training for Single A class but not before taking Gold at Langar UKSL, the first 'actual' skydiving competition they entered. Undeterred by their low placing in Single A at UKSL Sibson, they entered and took home the Bronze at UKSL Cark. And at last years British Skydiving Nationals, the girls placed 15th out of 24 teams but managed to hold a top 10 position for 6 rounds (out of 8).
2013 was a great year for the team. It was their first season as a team and as individuals and the fact that they progressed from Rookie to Single A in that period, with some of the girls having less than 100 jumps at the time, just shows how determined and dedicated they are to their sport and to each other.
The ChatterChicks were facing a personnel change in 2014 when Sarah had to undergo a knee operation. Luckily she was still able to compete at the World Challenge 2014 (in Single A) before the team's camera flyer Ro stepped in for the rest of the season. The ChatterChicks were the best all-female team on the World Challenge A Class leaderboard last year, and they also outscored the other eight British teams in the same category. The team still decided to move up into the AA Class and competed in this category at the UKSL meet in Sibson and at the UK Nationals 2014. They brought up the meet average from 6.8 to 9.0 last summer and then finished the 2014 season at the Bodyflight Revenge. Fortunately, Sarah was back in time for the indoor competition at the end of the outdoor season, and the ChatterChicks finished with the bronze medals and a 16.9 average.
Training for the 2015 season began early, and veteran coach Steve Hamilton, XL member, has been working with the ChatterChicks on a regular basis. Late 2014 also saw the team receive sponsorships from Bodyflight Bedford and the team's home DZ, Skydive Chatteris.
Formed in late 2012, the team all first met at Skydive Chatteris, hence the name ChatterChicks. It was here that Vikki, Tanya, Sarah and Robynne all learnt to skydive in the previous year or so and will always be considered as their home dropzone. Once the girls qualified and got their FS1 stickers, they all gained a great love for Formation Skydiving and with female presence in the sport being outshadowed by the opposite sex, it was suggested by staff member & camera flyer Lorraine Dixcey that the four friends form an all-girl 4-way team. Of course, being very new to the sport the girls could not do it alone. This is when other female staff members Ro and Yo also came to their rescue.
Rowena instantly insisted that she would love to be the teams camera flyer, and with such a flattering offer the girls would have been stupid to say no. And with that, Yo kindly agreed to accompany the girls at their training sessions at Bodyflight Wind Tunnel. It was with Yo that the girls learnt their very first knowledge of 4-way and for her help, the team will be eternally grateful.
So the girls started training as a team in Autumn 2012 and haven't looked back since. Jumping together was sometimes difficult due to the Great British weather but they're in the tunnel at least once every month. It's down to their hardwork and determination that saw the girls enter their first competition, Bodyflight World Challenge, as Rookie in April 2013. It was also around this time that they were very lucky to be chosen by Mars to receive £300 as part of their Mars Milk Fund, set up to help people in whatever hobby it is they partake in.
After a long weekend jumping at Skydive Empuriabrava, the girls were really making progress and decided to aim high and started training for Single A class but not before taking Gold at Langar UKSL, the first 'actual' skydiving competition they entered. Undeterred by their low placing in Single A at UKSL Sibson, they entered and took home the Bronze at UKSL Cark. And at last years British Skydiving Nationals, the girls placed 15th out of 24 teams but managed to hold a top 10 position for 6 rounds (out of 8).
2013 was a great year for the team. It was their first season as a team and as individuals and the fact that they progressed from Rookie to Single A in that period, with some of the girls having less than 100 jumps at the time, just shows how determined and dedicated they are to their sport and to each other.
The ChatterChicks were facing a personnel change in 2014 when Sarah had to undergo a knee operation. Luckily she was still able to compete at the World Challenge 2014 (in Single A) before the team's camera flyer Ro stepped in for the rest of the season. The ChatterChicks were the best all-female team on the World Challenge A Class leaderboard last year, and they also outscored the other eight British teams in the same category. The team still decided to move up into the AA Class and competed in this category at the UKSL meet in Sibson and at the UK Nationals 2014. They brought up the meet average from 6.8 to 9.0 last summer and then finished the 2014 season at the Bodyflight Revenge. Fortunately, Sarah was back in time for the indoor competition at the end of the outdoor season, and the ChatterChicks finished with the bronze medals and a 16.9 average.
Training for the 2015 season began early, and veteran coach Steve Hamilton, XL member, has been working with the ChatterChicks on a regular basis. Late 2014 also saw the team receive sponsorships from Bodyflight Bedford and the team's home DZ, Skydive Chatteris.