By Maria Vasquez | Eloy Enterprise
A major international skydiving competition drops into Eloy next week and spectators are welcome at no charge. The 2019 FAI World Cup of Formation Skydiving and Artistic Events will take place at Skydive Arizona from Monday to 12.
The World Cup is held every four years and is back in the United States for the first time since 2006. The event will feature over 250 competitors from 16 different countries.
Among those competing will be the 20-time national champion and 10-time world champion team Arizona Airspeed, and Skydive Chicago’s SDC Core, also a multiple world and national champion.
The skydivers will compete in formation skydiving, vertical formation skydiving, freestyle and freeflying.
Unlike all the other sports that hold a World Cup, the winning country in skydiving will not receive a trophy. Instead the teams that place in the top three of each event will receive medals.
The opening ceremony will take place on Monday at 4 p.m. at the dropzone and will feature all 16 countries.
“It’s mostly like if you think of the Olympics,” said George Hargis, Skydive Arizona marketing and events coordinator. “Every country has like a procession where they come out with their matching attire and their flag, and they carry their flag out.”
Some of the countries participating are Finland, Australia, Qatar and Paraguay.
“When you think of Paraguay you don’t think skydiving teams,” Hargis said. “Most of the European teams, you’d expect like France, Germany and Russia. But I think that Paraguay is one that people are always surprised by and Qatar, they have a really good eight-way team.”
The opening ceremony will also include speeches from Eloy Mayor Joel Belloc and FAI officials as well as an airshow by aerobatic pilot Kirby Chambliss, who lives in Pinal County.
Spectators are encourage to bring their own chairs to see the athletes land and there will also be a television monitor available to view what goes on in the sky before the parachutes open.
“The landing is the part that you can see from the ground,” Hargis said. “But we’re going to have a big screen to show what’s going on in the air because every team goes up with a videographer. Once the round is judged everybody can watch the points that they get, so we’re going to have that displayed on the screen and someone explaining to people who don’t know about the competition why that was a bust or why that was a point and that sort of thing.”
All the World Cup competitors will be landing in the main grass area at the dropzone, but spectators are also welcome to watch other non-competing skydivers including the tandems on the side area.
“We’re going to have the tandems and the wind tunnel open,” Hargis said. “So people can either come and just watch or they can come and jump or do the wind tunnel or they can come and meet some foreigners.”
There will be a parking lot designated for spectators outside of Skydive Arizona and there will be a tram going back and forth between the dropzone and the parking lot. Skydive Arizona does not allow any pets.
“Spectators don’t have to pay to come watch,” Hargis said. “We just ask that they’re respectful and give the competitors space. We will have volunteer skydivers available to answer questions. We’re going to have some food trucks plus our restaurant, so they can grab a bite to eat.”
