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The Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association (CMSA) launched its newest competitive sport in early-November: Cornhole.
Yep, the popular backyard game joins softball, basketball, volleyball, and other sporting offerings from the predominantly-LGBT CMSA.
The first cornhole season will run six weeks, with play held Sunday mornings at the Center on Halsted in Lakeview. The Center's gym is now limited to 50 people, so the league is limited to 10 teams of four people in the gym at one time. Play will end in late-December.
In all, there are 20 CMSA Cornhole teams with 78 registrants from a limit of 80.
“We were really happy to see the turnout,” said Drew Ladochi, CMSA Secretary and CMSA Cornhole Commissioner.
“We were trying to think of new sports that members could participate in. The current COVID-19 guidelines (set) by Gov. Pritzker for Illinois recreational sports limit s us on what sports can happen and how many people can be indoors. CMSA president Lindsay Frounfelkner brought up the idea (of cornhole) in September. We were concerned about costs and hoping to keep them to a minimum. We're incredibly happy to have gotten a donation from Jack Daniels for five sets of cornhole boards to help get this league started.
“I have seen it played here and there at friend's houses, but never played in a league. I know that everyone has their way of playing, so I had to research the official rules for cornhole to create rules for CMSA. It's an easy game to pick up and you are only required to throw a 'bag' onto a board that is 27 feet away. If it lands on the board, then you get one point. If it goes in the hole on the board, you get three points. The first one to 21 points wins. Points do cancel each other out if both teams score on the same board.”
Naturally, CMSA Cornhole teams have wacky, laugh-filled names, such as, Corn Stars and Cornholio.
The play starts at 10 a.m. and lasts about two hours each week.
“We wanted to create a sport that we can have friendly competition and an option to get out of the house,” said Ladochi, who noted that demand surpassed the 20-team max. “This will be a continuing sport that will evolve as we get more guidance from the state. The state restrictions do not allow us to have competitive play with most of our sports. The league would definitely move to a weeknight as our other sport offerings become available.”
CMSA requires COVID-19 screening for all participants, including a questionnaire that must be completed before participating. CMSA has hand sanitizer at every board and check-in. Everyone is required to wear masks at all times.
Yep, the popular backyard game joins softball, basketball, volleyball, and other sporting offerings from the predominantly-LGBT CMSA.
The first cornhole season will run six weeks, with play held Sunday mornings at the Center on Halsted in Lakeview. The Center's gym is now limited to 50 people, so the league is limited to 10 teams of four people in the gym at one time. Play will end in late-December.
In all, there are 20 CMSA Cornhole teams with 78 registrants from a limit of 80.
“We were really happy to see the turnout,” said Drew Ladochi, CMSA Secretary and CMSA Cornhole Commissioner.
“We were trying to think of new sports that members could participate in. The current COVID-19 guidelines (set) by Gov. Pritzker for Illinois recreational sports limit s us on what sports can happen and how many people can be indoors. CMSA president Lindsay Frounfelkner brought up the idea (of cornhole) in September. We were concerned about costs and hoping to keep them to a minimum. We're incredibly happy to have gotten a donation from Jack Daniels for five sets of cornhole boards to help get this league started.
“I have seen it played here and there at friend's houses, but never played in a league. I know that everyone has their way of playing, so I had to research the official rules for cornhole to create rules for CMSA. It's an easy game to pick up and you are only required to throw a 'bag' onto a board that is 27 feet away. If it lands on the board, then you get one point. If it goes in the hole on the board, you get three points. The first one to 21 points wins. Points do cancel each other out if both teams score on the same board.”
Naturally, CMSA Cornhole teams have wacky, laugh-filled names, such as, Corn Stars and Cornholio.
The play starts at 10 a.m. and lasts about two hours each week.
“We wanted to create a sport that we can have friendly competition and an option to get out of the house,” said Ladochi, who noted that demand surpassed the 20-team max. “This will be a continuing sport that will evolve as we get more guidance from the state. The state restrictions do not allow us to have competitive play with most of our sports. The league would definitely move to a weeknight as our other sport offerings become available.”
CMSA requires COVID-19 screening for all participants, including a questionnaire that must be completed before participating. CMSA has hand sanitizer at every board and check-in. Everyone is required to wear masks at all times.
