Cornhole clinic, tournament to be held at Linn County Fairgrounds Feb. 12

A metal Iowa BIG sign hangs on the wall at the Alburnett Community School District Iowa BIG classroom on Aug. 20, 2021. Students at Iowa BIG are organizing a Valentine’s Day weekend cornhole tournament and clinic at the Linn County Fairgrounds on Feb. 12. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

CENTRAL CITY — A Valentine’s Day weekend cornhole tournament and clinic at the Linn County Fairgrounds — organized by students at Iowa BIG — aims to get more people to the fairgrounds.

The Valentine’s Open tournament will begin Saturday, Feb. 12, at 5 p.m. indoors at the Linn County Fairgrounds, 201 Central City Rd., Central City. There is a registration fee.

Before the tournament, however, kids and adults alike can participate in a free clinic where they will learn different types of bags, court layout, scoring, gameplay and technique.

A free kids tournament will begin at 11 a.m.

Cornhole is a game where players take turns throwing bean bags at a raised platform with a hole in the far end of the board. A bag in the hole scores three points, while one on the board scores one point. The goal is to reach a score of 21.

Equipment for the Valentine’s Open is being provided by 319 Cornhole, which was founded in Cedar Rapids in 2017 to get Eastern Iowa cornhole players connected and active.

The event is being spearheaded by Alburnett High School students in the Iowa BIG program, who are hoping to bring awareness to the Linn County Fairgrounds.

A tractor is parked for display at the Linn County Fairgrounds in Central City in 2016 as part of the Linn County Fair. Students at Iowa BIG are organizing a Valentine’s Day weekend cornhole tournament and clinic at the fairgrounds on Feb. 12. (The Gazette)

The Iowa BIG program challenges high school students to team up with businesses to work on projects. This gives its students the ability to learn and use real-world skills such as leadership, accountability and teamwork on projects about which they are passionate, while earning high school credit at the same time.

Michael Lafler, business teacher with Iowa BIG at Alburnett, said he hopes a lot of kids who haven’t played bags — another name for cornhole — show up and learn the game.

Michael Hunt of Omaha (right) competes against Sean McGrath of Cedar Rapids in the cornhole/bags tournament during FRYFest at the Coralville Marriott on Sept. 1, 2017. (The Gazette)

Kaitlin Wink, 17, a senior at Alburnett High School, said she has never gone to the Linn County Fair, and is enjoying learning more about it and the fairgrounds through this project.

Riggs Martin, 15, a sophomore at Alburnett High School, said it’s a good opportunity to “drum up business for the fair” this summer.

Martin’s favorite thing about playing cornhole is “beating the competition.”

Reggie Reicks, founding member of 319 Cornhole, said the group has a couple hundred dedicated members, who he describes as “a family outside of bloodline family.”

He hopes for between 30 to 40 teams sign up for the evening tournament.

"The number one thing that makes cornhole so special is that anybody at any age can play the game,“ Reicks said. ”A plumber, a carpenter, a nurse or a doctor, they are all brought together by this game.“

Registration for the Valentine’s Open — a competitive cornhole tournament — will begin at 4 p.m.

It is a $40 entrance fee, with 50 percent going toward the cost of the venue at the Linn County Fairgrounds.

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