#1 Definitive Cornhole Tournament Guide
From Planning to Filling Out Your Cornhole Tournament Bracket
Nothing says summer like a good old-fashioned cornhole competition! But what’s better than a game of Cornhole? The obvious answer is, of course, two games of Cornhole!
For cornhole enthusiasts, being a part of a league is one of the best ways to grow in the sport and meet new friends who share the same passion for cornhole. Most importantly, you get to take part in cornhole tournaments for fun and prizes!
Of course, you don’t have to be in a cornhole league to plan and run a tournament. Tournaments come in all shapes and sizes – from a sponsored and promoted event all the way to a picnic with friends. Whether you’re looking to grow your league to local prominence or throw back some drinks and hang with your friends, we’ve got advice for you on throwing your first cornhole tournament.
Organizing Your Cornhole Tournament
To organize a quality cornhole tournament, you’ll need people, a place, and cornhole. You can set this up at someone’s house in their backyard, but then they’d have a home turf advantage, so we recommend going to a public park in your area.
Start Planning Early
Just how early depends entirely on what size of an event you’re planning to hold. Even still, a high-quality cornhole tournament does not happen overnight.
Large events are the product of many weeks or months of meticulous preparation to ensure that everything and everyone is ready. Even smaller events can take time to be successfully planned, which is why, if you want to host a cornhole tournament, it is best that you start planning way ahead of time.
At the onset, you should identify the people who will be involved in helping you organize the event. Then, make a list of potential sponsors who would be willing to shoulder certain expenses such as the venue, food and drinks, and prizes, among others.
Don’t forget the kiddos! Kids love playing Cornhole and even though it might be difficult to get the younger ones to wait in between turns, having a kids Cornhole tournament alongside the adult’s Cornhole tournament will be a good time for everyone.
For smaller events, crowdsourcing your support might be the best approach. A potluck with friends at the park playing for bragging rights can be organized for nearly no cost at all!
Hunger and Cornhole Don’t Mix
If you ask everyone participating in your Cornhole tournament to kick in a few bucks, you’ll have more than enough money to pay for that sandwich platter or pick up hotdogs, hamburgers, and the fixings to grill at the park.
Then again, restaurants are a great opportunity for sponsorship. It gives them an opportunity to show off their catering chops or exciting new dishes and takes one more item off your plate.
Prepare the Right Cornhole Equipment
You can’t expect the participants to bring their own cornhole equipment. As a host, you are in charge of providing and setting up the highest quality tournament cornhole boards, bags, and other accessories needed for the games. Make sure that you only get your equipment from an industry leader so you can be assured of quality and durability.
Cornhole equipment can be a little cumbersome to transport, so we recommend our Cornhole board carrying case. It has enough room to hold two regulation Cornhole boards and several sets of bags; it’s also durable and great for storage!
Make Sure that Every Participant is Well-Informed
You should have every detail of the tournament sorted out before you even start enrolling participants. Make sure that you provide everybody with copies of the official cornhole tournament rules that you will be using for the tournament in order to avoid confusion and frustration later on.
You may also consider dedicating about 15 minutes to explain the rules to all participants before the start of the tournament.
The Cornhole Tournament Bracket
Everyone loves a good bracket and, for a real cornhole tournament, it is a necessity. Filling out brackets is fairly simple and you can have people who aren’t playing fill theirs out based on who they think will win the tournament ala March Madness.
Another consideration is if you’re going to run a single-elimination or double-elimination tournament. Double-elimination tournaments take a lot longer, but they tend to allow the best team to win instead of the streakiest. Then again, every match matters in a single-elimination tournament.
Make sure you give a neutral party a master bracket to keep track of who is actually winning. We’re sure your friends are trustworthy, but cornhole players sometimes do things that are out of character when stakes are high!
Click Here to Download Your Cornhole Bracket!
Don’t Forget the Prizes!
We recommend a custom cornhole game from Cornhole Worldwide, purveyor of the finest boards in the country, as the grand prize for your first cornhole tournament. Make a tradition out of it by doing this every year!
The winner gets to take the board home to use until next year’s tournament. Winners can also keep special custom Cornhole bags you had printed with the name and year of your cornhole tournament.
We know a Cornhole tournament will help you make this summer your best summer ever, and every summer after will be even better than that when you carry on the annual Cornhole tournament tradition!