A camp and backyard favourite has come to Sudbury, as the Nickel City will be home to one of 20 organized cornhole leagues across Canada.
Cornhole Canada launched in 2019 and officially began spawning leagues across the country, with the majority right here in Ontario.
"We registered 20 leagues in Canada with most of them in Ontario," said Pino Panza, president of Cornhole Canada. "Sudbury was an area we really wanted to hit."
For those unfamiliar with the game, a very rudimentary descriptor of the game would be beanbag toss in teams of two or solos.
Opponents take turns tossing their bean bags at a board two-foot by four-foot roughly 30 feet away, scoring points for landing on the board or in the hole.
"The game is growing and a lot of people have been reaching out to us, interested in starting their own league," said Panza. "We're looking at hosting our first national championship in August this year."
Panza runs the national organization, and he connected with Corey Langella of Sudbury, who has taken on the role as director for the local league.
"I met Pino through ball hockey and he had contacted me for my thoughts on a Sudbury league," said Langella. "Knowing the people I know I felt this could attract a lot of people here."
Ideally, the Sudbury Cornhole League will be able to run year-round, once pandemic restrictions loosen and indoor games are up and running again. Luckily, the sport has long been a backyard and cottage favourite, and Panza says there should be no issues with having outdoor competition in year one.
"Cornhole is really tied to that cottage country life, it's a really popular game and we've had Barrie launch their league last March; they hosted an event in Muskoka that brought in around 70 players," said Panza. "We really wanted to reach out to Sudbury and Thunder Bay; it's definitely got that backyard game appeal."
Langella says that the Sudbury league will appeal to players of all skill and interest levels, and will provide the resources for anyone looking to pursue higher levels of competition.
"It can be a leisure activity just to get out and play, but if people want to get into a higher level we can show them how to get there, like with the national championships this summer," said Langella.
The hope is for the league to be up and running by late June or early July and run for 10 weeks, with games twice weekly.
"The first year is definitely going to be a lot of trial and error," said Langella. "But that's what's exciting about it; we get to see what works and what doesn't and we'll be learning as we go and seeing where we can take this."
Langella is currently working at the local level with the city of Greater Sudbury to see what arrangements can be made for outdoor play this summer, and the hope is to secure some indoor space for the fall and winter.
"Ideally we want to be able to play year round," said Langella. "It's nice to be able to play outdoors, but when you're running any outdoor league the weather is always a factor."
If you're interested in entering a team into the Sudbury Cornhole League, visit canadiancornholeleagues.com/sudbury.
