Toss it in: Cornhole named new fall intramural sport

It's almost impossible to walk through student neighborhoods without seeing students flinging colored beanbags through the air, trying to land them in or around a small hole carved in a wooden board.\nThe name of the game is cornhole, and it has become a staple of college life at IU and at campuses across the nation. \nKeeping in line with this trend, Recreational Sports will be offering cornhole as one of the fall intramural sports. \n"We're really enthused to see cornhole come into the mix, especially with its growing popularity," Intramural Sports Council President Matt Stoltz said. "With football season and tailgates in full swing, this is the perfect time for it to be introduced as an IM (intramural) sport."\nSign-ups for cornhole will be held Wednesday Sept. 20. Teams of two players will be able to compete in one of four leagues: men's, women's, co-ed and fraternity. \nCornhole is a recreational sport that is often played at outdoor events such as cookouts and tailgates. One of the reasons for its popularity is its appeal to players of all different athletic abilities. Unlike other, more athletic sports, anyone can be good at cornhole. \nLast year, Spirit of Sport held a cornhole tournament that was open to everyone. With 16 registered teams, the tournament was a great success, said Spirit of Sport advisor Joanne Orrange.\n"Spirit of Sport is a great way to test out potential intramural sports," Orange said. "We saw that cornhole was very well received and students were having a lot of fun."\nAfter the success of cornhole at the Spirit of Sport, an independent group came to the Intramural Sports Council presenting the idea of making cornhole an intramural sport. The presentation met relatively little opposition.\n"We saw that it drew way more people than expected at the Spirit of Sport," Stoltz said. "There seems to be so much interest, and we felt we should open it up to a whole new crowd."\nSince this will be the cornhole's first year as an intramural sport, it is hard to predict how big of a hit it will be, said director of intramural sports, Shauna Robbins. \n"Our goal is to draw about 50 teams," Robbins said. "The first year is usually a guess, so we could end up with any number of teams."\nStoltz also understands that cornhole might start out slowly, but ultimately he believes it will be a success.\n"The first year is about getting the name out there; it can be rocky sometimes," Stoltz said. "This is a good year to get it started, and I think numbers will increase in the years to come"