A beloved cottage pastime for two brothers has led them to create a new cornhole league in Guelph.
Residents Eric and Nick Bornino are the co-organizers of the Guelph Cornhole Club, a club where residents can learn the fundamentals of cornhole, or to practice for provincial and national competition.
“We’re more focused on casual play from beginners to novice,” said Eric Bornino about the league and its members, “Girls and guys who want to get out and just socialize and have some fun.”
Cornhole works by players taking turns tossing bean bags onto a raised platform with holes. Three points are given to players for every bean bag that goes through the hole, but if a beanbag lands on the platform, players only receive one point.
Cornhole can be played as singles or doubles with the first person or team to score 21 points winning the game. Bornino explains it’s not a very physical game as it is more of a social one, but it can get competitive.
“There’s certain strategies behind it too and ways you can play,” he said, going on to talk about how companies make different bean bags to do different things during cornhole.
“There’s a lot of involvement in the sport. If you start looking at the actual players it can get pretty technical from a certain aspect,” Bornino said about the sport, “As technical as getting a bag through a hole can get.”
The brothers learned about cornhole through trips to the family cottage. It was the camaraderie and social aspect of cornhole that drew their interest into the sport.
Last year, the pair began to learn about cornhole leagues in the United States and Canada, seeing teams develop in Toronto, Barrie and Kitchener. Realizing that Guelph could be a potential candidate for a league, the pair started speaking with local restaurants who could offer space.
“With the pandemic and everything, it was sort of like, where do we go from here? Do we even give this thing a shot in the middle of a pandemic?” Bornino continues, “We had an opportunity come up when things started to get better and we said, ‘Okay, let’s give this a shot.’”
Eventually, Western Burgers & Steaks in downtown Guelph agreed to let the league play in their space, and the Guelph Cornhole Club began in October with 15 members.
Bornino mentions cornhole is also a safer sport to play during the pandemic, as platforms are 27 feet apart allowing for social distancing. They also have safety precautions in place for the league.
“One of the reasons we got into it as well, because people were very isolated and no one could get out and do anything,” said Bornino, “So this was a good opportunity for them to do that, safely.”
“We had all the precautions in place and the restaurant had all of their precautions in place on top of ours, which was great.”
Before the provincial lockdown in December, the club had managed to run a few events before closing down. With plans to resume the club again in May, Bornino said they are recruiting for new members and hope to offer tournaments and open tournaments for non-members in the future.
“We don’t know what’s really going to happen in the next few months,” said Bornino, “We may move outside if we can find a location.”
Recently, the Guelph Cornhole Club joined Cornhole Canada, the official sanctioning body for the sport in Canada.
“They’re actually planning to run a nationals in August,” said Bornino, “And with them, our members are allowed to qualify for that.”
For those who aren’t looking to compete that way, Bornino mentions their league focuses on having fun.
“It can be competitive, if you want it to be, or it can just be a casual game to come out, have some drinks and eat some food or meet some people,” said Bornino, “Depends on what you want to get out of it.”
To learn more about the Guelph Cornhole Club, go to canadiancornholeleagues.com.
