The ACO continues it’s pitch to make cornhole a national sport

Over 500 people gathered around to watch the Worlds X Doubles Championships in Knoxville, TN back in July 2015.

American Cornhole, located in Milford, OH, just celebrated its 10th year of pitching the sport of cornhole. 

Much has happened over those years. Starting as a backyard game, played with relatives and friends, then tailgate parties, and now national competition, cornhole is a recognized national pastime.

Ten years ago there was no organization, no defined rules, and no standardization of cornhole equipment. 

Frank Geers (in black) pictured with Larry Newell the CA Major Singles Champion.

Frank Geers the Founder of the ACO knew that he had his work cut out for him. He wanted to take this backyard game and make it an organized sport.

He and his team for the past 10 years have been working to make cornhole an organized sport and bring it to television.

They created rules and regulations that standardized the game so that when a player in Georgia or California played they played under the same rules and guidelines.

They standardized the boards and bags so that equipment was the same no matter where it was played. This elevated the game from just a backyard game to a higher skill level – a sport.

Ten years ago, there was no organized body to regulate the sport of cornhole, the ACO took on that responsibility.

Cornhole Bags have gone from a canvas bag filled with corn to a bag filled with resin pellets. The resin pellets provide consistency of weight and playability adding to the standardization.

Several years ago, the ACO developed a two sided bag. One side sticky and one side slick. These bags added a layer of complexity to the game creating more types of shots and planned strategy to the game.

The ESPN SportsCenter “On the Road” bus parks outside Knoxville Convention Center July 2015 at the Worlds X

This past year, ESPN featured its SportsCenter Show at the ACO World Championships of Cornhole, adding additional credibility to the sport.

To get the word out, the ACO has a network of Certified Officials scattered throughout the country that are ambassadors of the sport of cornhole. These men and women get the message out about the ACO. They run monthly points tournaments and educate the public as to the fun and seriousness helping to get the ACO message out. The ACO website is filled with valuable information.

ACO tournaments can be found in California, Ohio, the Carolinas, Florida, Kentucky,Nevada, Alabama, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Missouri, and others are added every month.

For more information about the ACO visit AmericanCornhole.com

– See more at:Video clip on ACO and a decade of developing the sport of cornhole