This week I am starting with the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT from CORNHOLE CANADA. The location has been set for the 2025 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP. This premier event will be held August 13-17 in Beaumont Alberta. Beaumont is a city adjacent to Leduc County within the Edmonton Metropolitan Region of Alberta and has a population of 21,000 people.
The National Championship will see some of the best players from all over the country playing to be national champions. There will be events in all three tiers, so this event is for everyone and is an absolute blast. Last year Team Saskatchewan had 32 players don the jersey and compete for Saskatchewan. I anticipate there will be over 45 players making the trip to Alberta in 2025.
Last year the Saskatchewan Cornhole Association gave every player a free Team Sask jersey and paid for three National event entries. I think the SCA will be able to do better than that next year, so keep your eyes peeled for announcements from the SCA.
If you are thinking of making the trip, it is very important to ensure you have your Cornhole Canada registration paid. This $15 is your key to not only entering events and gaining points, but it is also your insurance in case anything happens to you while playing cornhole.
Now, back to the week in the Backyard. We had two weeks of play in this edition of the blog. Ladies Night had been rocking on Mondays. We have been seeing numbers close to 20 as this night is one of the favorites of the SCA Ladies. As we head into the last month of play, the ladies are looking ahead at the next season which will begin on Jan 13, 2025. It will be a 12-week season that will end at the end of April. So, calling all ladies, lets all try and bring someone to the next season and maybe we can double these numbers. It is the best place to start, because we have the time to teach, in a relaxed atmosphere, with no pressure.
Tuesday Singles night was dominated by Damara in the Hawk Division (Tier 3). She only lost one game on her way to the victory, double dipping me in the finals. Damara was noticeably better than everyone on this night as she fired a 9.31 PPR in the round-robin and an 8.48 in the bracket. Stich was the bounty, and he did not get far, when Kim took him into custody, winning the Bounty money.
The Pigeon Division (Tier 4) was also dominated by the SCA Ladies as Sarah and Marla both went 3-0 in the round-robin. They carried that throwing into the bracket as they met in the A-Final for the Queen Seat. Sarah bettered Marla and was sitting on the throne. Marla, who was the bounty, went down to the B-side to play Joe P. Marla beat Joe to set up an all-ladies final. Game one Marla fired an 8.86 PPR to force game two. Game two went 12 rounds but in the end, Marla shooting a 7.5 PPR came out not only the victor but keeping the bounty money.
On Wednesday night we had an odd number of players with some newbies coming out and Lorne grabbed The Ghost as the partner. Lorne would not be denied this win as he took down another SCA Lady, Joann, and her partner Murray. Lorne went undefeated and was shooting a 5.13 in the final on his way to the title, great shooting Lorne.
Week after week, we see the SCA Ladies putting their mark on league play. It does not matter what tier you look at; we always have at least one lady in the mix. This does not happen by accident and is a true testament to Monday Ladies Night.
REMINDER – Nov 16 Friday night SWITCH is moved to Saturday as we raise money for the Food Bank.
Tier 4 POWER Ranking:
- FIRST: THE KID – I am keeping Lucas in the one spot, but only by the tiniest of margins.
- SECOND: MARLA—With the win on Tuesday Marla creeps so close to the top spot. If she has another great week she will be in the top spot, and the way she is so competitive, if she gets there she may never leave.
- THIRD: — OOPSIDACEY – Mike has been steady, as long as I keep him out of the number one spot. So I will keep him in the third spot.
- FOURTH: — SHAWN – I am not sure if Shawn can make time to practice, because if he did, he would not be a Pigeon for long. I get to see when he is throwing more and when it happens, he gets better immediately.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
- SARAH P: Sarah is a player that guarantees if she played more, she would dominate. Every time she comes out consistently, she gets better.
- LYNETTE: She stays in the rankings.
- JOE P: Back in the rankings. Joe is one of the best humans and I love his game. Another person that if he played more, he would not be a Pigeon long.
Tier 3 POWER Ranking:
- FIRST: PATCHES— Stays in the top spot, only because nobody took it away.
- SECOND: NEWSON— Stays in the second spot with a mediocre finish on Tuesday.
- THIRD: KASSIGAN— stays in 3rd spot with the Regional coming up, it will decide where he goes.
- FOURTH: DAMARA— It was only one week, but if Damara continues her hot hand she will be on top of this tier very soon.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
- DEAN – Dean always a favorite to play against and never a push over
- GLENNY – Glen’s has been putting in the work and is getting better every week.
- CRYSTAL – Stays in the rankings, with her revamped throw, her PPR is back on the rise and it should be interesting to see when she hits her stride
