CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — The Illinois Middle School State Championship was supposed to start today; however, hundreds were stranded outside of the Activities and Recreation Center (ARC) at the University of Illinois for hours before learning the basketball games had been cancelled.

The tournament, designed to give 4th-8th graders an experience similar to March Madness, was supposed to start at 4:15 p.m. on Friday. However, all the games were shut down by organizers due to not having medical personnel on staff.

Before receiving an update, some people were locked outside of the building for over two hours, from shortly before 4 p.m. to shortly after 6 p.m. One person who was waiting in line said at one point, staff from the building started asking members of the crowd if there were any certified medical personnel members available. Another individual waiting outside took a flight from Jacksonville, Florida to attend the event to watch a family member play.

Close to 6 p.m., University of Police officers came to the ARC to try to get an understanding of the situation. Shortly after 6 p.m., an organizer came outside to tell the people in line that the games for Friday had been cancelled by the U of I.

Organizers from the event put a note in the window at the ARC with the following message:

“We apologize for any inconvenience. The National Middle School Basketball Championships has not yet secured the required personnel to operate the event safely. We cannot host this event until the required personnel is onsite. We have no further information. Reach out to the National Middle School Basketball Championships for updates. Thank you for your understanding.”

As of now, games for the championships will start tomorrow. Head organizers of the event said they are still trying to figure out the plans for the rest of the tournament for Saturday and Sunday.

This is the eighth year the program has been going on in Illinois. Hundreds of boys and girls are set to participate in the championships this weekend. Before Friday’s games were cancelled, Experience Champaign-Urbana Director of Event Services, Mark Brown, said this year’s tournament was projected to generate $2 million.