Cornhole serves up competitive fun

SANDPOINT — Putting the leisure in leisure sports, a new niche sport called cornhole is quickly gaining traction in Sandpoint, with three upcoming tournaments on tap — along with your favorite adult beverage.

For the unitiated, the game is played by throwing bean bags into the small holes on a wooden platform from more than 30 feet apart.

But one of the players at a recent doubles tournament at MickDuff’s Beer Hall offers up a far better description.

“Redneck horse shoes,” describes Nick Kovalenko, who came from Spokane to play in the double-elimination tournament. “Anyone can play it. You don’t have to have world class speed or be 6-foot-8. Anyone can throw a bean bag.”

The closest approximation in sports would be horse shoes, and the game is scored almost identically, with a bag going through the hole akin to a ringer and worth three points, while only one team can score after tossing all four bags.

The one-day tournaments are part of the Summer Satellite Cornhole Tournament Series, the brainchild of MickDuff’s Beer Hall manager Mack Deibel, who admits he’s very competitive-minded and loves the challenge.

“We played it during college and loved the game. It’s picking up steam around here, we’ve been championing cornhole,” says Deibel of the fun and relaxed games, where players often nurse a beer between tosses. “It’s all about the atmosphere, just come out and enjoy it. It’s competitive fun.”

Deibel has already run two tournaments, where players must be 21 years-old and up, with another two coming up on Aug. 8 and Aug. 20 at MickDuff’s (220 Cdear St.). Registration and practice start at 11 a.m., with the bags flying for real at 1 p.m. The entry fee is usually $5 or $10 per player, with 100 percent of the cash pot paid out to the winners, which no doubt stokes the competitive fires.

Deibel and MickDuff’s will also play host to the upcoming Northwest Cornhole Championships on Sept. 12, with competitors from all over the region filling up a 32 team bracket. The games go to 21, and can either go fast, when multiple cornholes rack up points quickly, or slow, where each team cancels each other out and only one point is awarded per frame.

Terms used in the sport include grasshopper (landing on dirt or grass and bouncing onto the board for a point), blocker, hanger, swish, hooker (bending around an existing bag and going in the hole) and of course the game’s namesake.

The cornhole national championships are even televised on ESPN, which recently ran a weekend feature on the burgeoning sport. The U.S. origins date back to the late 19th century, when German immigrants first started playing the game in Cincinnati, Ohio,

While the game remains most popular in the Midwest, it’s officially hit the far reaches of North Idaho, as local players continue to get hooked.

“I love the competition, I love seeing everybody team up,” says Sandpoint’s Trevor Walkington, who plays weekly and loves the camaraderie. “Seeing people coming out and having fun and trying to win the bragging rights.”

Information: 208-209-6700.