Rogelio Tafoya is practicing his cornhole game.
He’s at the Ventura County Fairgrounds, which is going to be hosting the Super Bowl of cornhole this weekend. It’s a game you might have played at a backyard barbeque, or a football game tailgate party.
But, this is cornhole on steroids. More than 1200 teams are coming to Ventura to compete for $300,000 in prize money, in the world’s largest tournament.
John Karayan is the founder of the Throwdown Cornhole Festival.
"Right here in Ventura, California...go figure... cornhole's biggest tournament in the world is in California, on the beach," said Karayan.
If you’re not familiar with it, it’s game with deep Midwest roots. You try to toss a bag through a board with a hole in it. The first one to get to 21 points wins. The bags are usually filled with synthetic pellets now, but they were originally filled with whole kernel corn. Hence the name cornhole," he said.
"It's a fun thing to do. You're at the lake, and drinking a beer. I wouldn't say I'm a great player, but it's addicting... it's hard to stop playing when you start."
Karayan and his wife own Spencer Makenzie's, a popular Ventura seafood restaurant. The cornhole festival was born more than a decade ago as part of an annual celebration by the restaurant, and just kept growing.
The festival is so big it had to move to the Ventura County Fairgrounds, to handle the tens of thousands of people who attend. Crew are busy putting up the booths and competition areas for the three day long festival this weekend.
Karayan says anyone who comes can participate, but there’s also a best of the best part of the festival, with professional American Cornhole League players. ESPN will provide coverage of the pro events over the weekend. Highlights will be shown on Friday night, and the championships will be telecast live after the end of ESPN's Sunday night Major League Baseball game telecast.
Tafoya talks about how he became hooked on the sport.
"A friend of mine made a couple of boards, and brought them to a birthday party, and we started playing in the backyard. I was hooked from Day 1," said Tafoya.
Tafoya is playing with Matt Phillips of Santa Paula. What makes a good cornhole player? "Commitment, time to practice...you gotta practice a lot," said Phillips. "There are some seven-year-olds competing out there on a higher level, and also some 60-70 year olds."
The Throw Down Cornhole Festival runs Friday through Sunday at the Ventura County Fairgrounds. In addition to the cornhole competition, this year there will also be a classic car show.
