The Barrie Cornhole League (BCL) is creating a women’s division as the two-year-old association continues to expand its membership.
The BCL started in March 2020, right before the pandemic shut everything down, and has been at the mercy of loosened restrictions.
League co-creator Sebastian Gianino says it has been a long two years, but they have been getting in games where possible.
“We’ve held some events outdoors when we could, but we have been able to be indoors over the last two years,” Gianino told BarrieToday.
The current league play sometimes consists of 50 to 60 players a night, but Gianino said he had started to notice more women showing up to play and decided to create another league.
“Our growth has been amazing. It just boomed out of nowhere. I started seeing guys coming to play and their wives and girlfriends joining them," Gianino said. "I realized we had the opportunity to create something special by organizing another league.
“We had a lot of female players already, but I think when spouses came they realized this wasn’t just for guys and now we have a whole other league night," he added.
The game consists of two boards (24 inches wide by 48 inches long), 27 feet apart with each having a six-inch hole centred nine inches from the back edge of the board. Each player gets four bean bags and tries to get their bags in the hole until they reach a score of 21.
The BCL plays Wednesday nights out of the Lion’s Gate Banquet Centre, located at 386 Blake St., with Thursday being added for the women’s division play.
When the league started, Gianino said there were 12 to 16 players, but as COVID restrictions eased, more people started to come out.
“I think people definitely needed to get out this last year, so this was a fun way to have fun but also maintain a distance when needed,” Gianino said. “We are mainly inside for league play, due to having to maintain the same conditions for every game, but we like to get outdoors and have fun events to show people what we do.”
For more information or to sign up for the Barrie Cornhole League, head to their website by clicking here.
Their regional tournament happens this Saturday, with registration closing tonight (March 11) at 8 p.m.
