National Cornhole Championship in Barrie as game picks up steam

BARRIE, ONT. -

People from across Canada are converging in Barrie this weekend for the inaugural National Cornhole Championships.

Cornhole Canada was formed as a national league in November of 2020. Since then, 26 different leagues across the country have been created, with many of those players competing in Barrie this weekend.

"Our goal was always to host a national championship as our first major event, and we wanted to do it in our first year for growth," says Pino Panza, the president of Cornhole Canada.

The game is often popular in backyard, recreational settings but is new in the competitive sports field. Players take turns throwing bean bags at a raised platform board, which has a hole in it. The winner is called when a player reaches or exceeds the score of 21.

"What we did was we started the national governing body by registering the business with the government," Panza told CTV News. "We are a non-profit basically trying to grow the game of Cornhole across Canada."

Panza says this weekend, 75 players are competing across five different divisions: women singles, men singles, mixed doubles, open doubles and teams.

Barrie is playing host to the inaugural event. The city is one of 12 with leagues across the province, the most of any in the country. Panza says most of the players are recreational, and they do come from far and wide, including a team from B.C.

"My grandson, we both play horseshoes," says Tom Moffat, who came from Victoria, B.C., for the competition. "We've travelled the Canadian championships, and this is just another sport we're doing, and we're having a great time meeting new people all over the country!"

The winner of the championship is expected to be called by 6 p.m. Sunday.