Locals create Pennsylvania Cornhole League amid pandemic
Dan Hoff had plans of putting together a corn hole league for a few years.
Hoff and his friends often played the popular lawn game where players attempt to toss bags into and onto an inclined wooden platform with a hole in it. He wanted a placed to do so competitively with others.
With some extra time on his hands during quarantine, Hoff, a St. Pius X grad who coaches boys basketball at Spring-Ford and runs the Tri-County summer basketball league among other sports endeavors in the area, began plans for the league this spring.
Along with Spring-Ford grad Gary Williams, Hoff created the Pennsylvania Cornhole League, which began June 28. The league provides a competitive environment for local corn hole players as well as a socially distanced sport in a world still dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I had thought about doing it years ago just because I see how much people like the basketball league in the area and the stuff that we do,” Hoff said. “It kind of just got put on the back burner with all the hoops stuff.
“Gary and I were like when all of this gets lifted people are gonna want to do stuff and it’s going to be outside probably for the most part. We figured what a natural game that kind of encourages social distancing to begin with. It kind of just took off from there.”
Hoff and Williams’ paths have crossed over the years due to organizing basketball events. Hoff approached Williams this spring with the idea for the PA Cornhole League, asking if he’d like to join.
Williams insisted he help Hoff run the league. The two used their networks and connections to grow the idea from what initially started as 10 teams of mostly friends and family members into a nearly 40-team league by the opening weekend June 28.
“I enjoy playing the game myself and have experience in events and event management,” Williams said. “So I told him, ‘Let me help you run it. Let me help you build it out,’ because I’ve done that in the past and I think it can be blown out.”
“We both just being in event management have that network of people,” he added. “First was just finding some family and friends who want to jump in and through word of mouth it kind of spreads to a couple corn hole addicts and once one corn hole enthusiast or really good player jumps in, then it kind of explodes.”
The plan for the PA Cornhole League is to run six week leagues throughout the year. Two divisions — social and competitive — are offered.
The first league runs June 28-Aug. 2 at The Alley on High Street in Pottstown on Sundays from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.. The next league will run Aug. 17Sept. 21 at Stable 12 Brewing Company in Phoenixville on Mondays from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Hoff and Williams also plan on running one-day events at different locations, providing another opportunity to grow the league and give local players a chance to compete. Stable 12 will host a doubles elimination tournament Aug. 9, and Talks Tavern in Douglassville is set to host an event Sept. 12.
“We reached out to a bunch of local bars and pretty much every establishment was excited for us to host something there because it helps out everyone involved,” Hoff said. “It brings business in for them, it brings people into their restaurant and bar, and it also helps us grow the league.”
While there are a handful of other corn hole organizations and leagues in southeastern Pa., including the Montgomery County Corn Hole League hosted at Worcester Golf Club in Collegeville, the PA Cornhole League has filled a void for those looking for organized competition in the Pottstown area.
“I have a lot of friends who are really good at corn hole and we played in competitive tournaments in our backyard and stuff like that and we always tried to get some people to play,” said Jeff Kerr, who lives in Douglassville. “This is like my first official league. … I like the competition of it and ultimately at the end of the day it’s nice to get out and do something.”
Hoff and Williams said they had new people asking to join following the PA Cornhole League’s first week. After the Stable 12 league at the end of the summer, they already have plans in place to continue the league indoors — if possible due to COVID-19 restrictions — in the fall and winter.
Two of the facilities mentioned included Aspiring Champions Sports Complex in King of Prussia and the United Sports Complex in Downingtown, which both host games for Hoff’s Tri-County League.
The early success of the league and interest in the sport has Hoff and Williams excited about what the future might hold for the PA Cornhole League.
“Once we get this one area down we kind of want to move on to a different region of PA and kind of slowly take over the southeast and more so the middle of Pennsylvania and kind of branch our way out,” Williams said. “That’s the goal. There’s always going to be competitors and we don’t want to jump on anyone’s feet. We just want to give our network of people somewhere to play and just grow the sport of corn hole in doing so.”