Cornhole Tournament to benefit United Way of Monroe County

Tradition. Spirit. Philanthropy.

These will all be seen at the second annual Cornhole Tournament and bonfire at 2 p.m.  Wednesday in Dunn Meadow. The cost is $10 per team, and all proceeds go to the United Way of Monroe County, which benefits more than 30 organizations such as American Red Cross and Hoosier Hills Food Bank.

Students are encouraged to pre-register online at alumni.indiana.edu/saa/cornholetournament_form.shtml until late Tuesday night, and teams can also sign up beginning Wednesday morning for on-the-hour time slots between 2 and 6 p.m. Each team’s $10 donation is due at check-in, and cash or checks can be made payable to United Way of Monroe County.

There are about 100 teams registered so far, and students will receive a free T-shirt when they check-in that reads, “Play United, Live United,” said graduate student Kim Kushner, advisor of the Student Alumni Association.

“We would love to see 500 people there having a good time, and we’re combining tradition, spirit and philanthropy,” Kushner said.

There will be free food with a corn theme, such as corndogs, popcorn and corn salsa, and live music will begin around 4:30 p.m. with performances by the David Campbell Trio and Mike & Joe, Kushner said.

There will be prizes for those who make it to the Sweet Sixteen round, and the winning team will receive a free large pizza from Papa John’s every week for an entire year, Kushner said. The top winners will also be presented with engraved Herf Jones rings on the field during the homecoming football game against Northwestern on Saturday.

There will also be a loser’s bracket to get people to stay around, Kushner said. The annual Homecoming bonfire will begin at dusk. Attendees can roast s’mores and watch the night light up after torching Willie, Northwestern’s mascot, Kushner said.

Another aspect of the event is getting more fraternities and sororities involved, said senior Kelly Starcevich, co-director of the Greek Strategic Planning committee and member of Kappa Alpha Theta.

“Every fraternity and sorority has a Homecoming pair,” Starcevich said. “We have representation from almost all the Greek houses, and we are hoping to have 10 cornhole teams for every two houses paired.”

This is the first year there has been a philanthropy aspect to the cornhole tournament, and the planning committee is encouraging both non-greeks and greeks to sign up, Starcevich said.

Delta Delta Delta member and sophomore Sarah Drummy said she is excited to play in the tournament because it’s a great way to get involved and relieve some stress from midterms.

Planning has been important to get people invested in the tournament, Kushner said.
In case of rain, the location will be moved to the DeVault Alumni Center – 1000 East 17th St. – and the call will be made Wednesday morning.

“Cornhole has always been a family tradition, and I’ve been playing ever since I was five years old,” Drummy said. “I’m excited to have some fun and hopefully win.”