IRCA 2016 State Championship
IRCA
Illinois Recreational Cheerleading Association has completed their 9th annual Cheerleading and Dance State Championship. Of course, balloons were also a part of the festivities. In fact, this was our 7th year providing balloons for their award ceremony. This year we set up 11 balloon drops to fill the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, IL. The colors chosen for this year were green, black, blue and white. Each balloon drop net is 50 feet in length and held around 700-800 balloons of varying sizes.
Rigging the drops
While the cheerleaders are anxiously awaiting their weekend-long competition, we are diligently working to inflate, fill, and hang all of the balloon drops. With 8 people on our inflate crew this year we were able to finish inflating and filling the nets in about 6.5 hours. Hanging the balloon drops doesn’t happen until the day after. The center arena floor is where the teams are gathered for awards ceremony so that is where 6 of the balloon drops are hung. For the remaining 5 balloon drops, we hang them above the seating area which is full of family and friends.
The drop
There are actually two balloon drops that happen. Three of the center-hung balloon drops are released earlier in the day for a smaller award ceremony. The remaining 8 balloon drops are released at the very end of the awards ceremony and are eagerly welcomed by everyone.
That’s not all!
There is also a dance party held for the teams before the final days. This year the theme was a beach party! A great theme choice for early December in Illinois. Around the dance floor were balloon palm trees while some bubble balloons floated up towards the ceiling in the lobby. Foil balloon flowers, fish, and swimmers helped tie it all together.
