Allegiance Color Guard brings home gold and silver medals

Dundee's very own independent youth color guard organization, Allegiance and Allegiance Cadets, recently competed in La Porte, Indiana at the 2015 Midwest Color Guard Circuit Championships and brought home silver and gold medals in their respective divisions.

Allegiance, age 14-20, performed their indoor routine "Windows to India" and placed second, earning them the silver medal in their division with a score of 83.48. The group outperformed three other units including the Ladies of South Shore Drill Team of Chicago, who scored a 79.96 and placed third.

"This is a tremendous accomplishment for the performers after their recent promotion to a more difficult level of competition", said Eric Hall, founder and director of the organization. "The fact that we ended the season at the top of our division shows great promise, especially since we plan to have the group compete at the Winter Guard International Olympics in Dayton, Ohio next year."

The organization's younger team, Allegiance Cadets, age 9-14, acts as a feeder unit for Allegiance. The cadet group performed their show titled "Beautifully Imperfect" and placed first at championships, earning their third consecutive gold medal in the Cadet division.

"The staff members are so very proud of these young and talented performers to have captured the gold three years in a row," said Cami Janzen-Guare, co-assistant director of the organization. "This is a testament to how dedicated and hardworking the kids, parents and staff are at making each season successful."

The combined Allegiance teams recently performed in East Dundee's St. Patrick's Day Parade followed by their open house showcase at Dundee Middle School which included guest performances from other local color guards including Dundee-Crown High School, Marengo High School and Convergence Color Guard.

In conjunction with the showcase, Allegiance sponsored a food drive and collected nonperishable food items along with monetary donations for the FISH Food Pantry in Carpentersville to help local families in need.

While Allegiance's winter season has ended, they have a summer color guard program starting on May 6.

Membership is open to coed youth from Dundee and various communities throughout Illinois. Previous color guard experience is not required to join.

"We're excited to have Allegiance perform at our upcoming Flag Day Ceremony at The Depot this summer," said Karen Blair, marketing director. "It should make for a very colorful display of our national pride and encourage young people to give back to the community that they live in."

Allegiance is a nonprofit independent youth color guard program formed in 2010 through a coed scouting initiative called Venturing. Membership in Allegiance is open to girls and boys, age 7-14, and young men and women, age 14-22. Previous experience not required; they have color guard learning and performing opportunities for beginner through advanced levels.

At Allegiance, students learn the fundamentals of color guard equipment and movement while building their confidence, character and self-esteem. It is an active, healthy and fun activity to be a part of during the summer and winter months. Once the routines are learned, participants get to perform at local summer parades and winter indoor competitions.

For details, contact director Eric Hall at (847) 525-3155 or director@allegianceyouth.org. Visit www.allegianceyouth.org.