More than 100 teams participate in Cornhole contest

Debbie Deig said she needed an excuse to see her daughter.

So when she read there would be a campus-wide Cornhole tournament, she encouraged her daughter to enter because they used to play at family gatherings.

She e-mailed her daughter Laura Deig newspaper articles about the event and even paid the $10 registration fee.

So Wednesday, when Laura Deig and her teammate, Kameron Kolb, stepped up to make their first toss, Debbie Deig was sitting in a lawn chair just yards away.

She drove the nearly three hours from Evansville to root on her daughter in the second annual Homecoming Cornhole Tournament, which benefits the United Way of Monroe County.

“It’s a beautiful day, and I’m so glad to see her,” Debbie Deig said.

The “Team Laura and Kameron” was one of 125 teams to compete in Wednesday’s tournament in Dunn Meadow.

“A great relationship has been formed,” said Katie Harvey, an IU campus coordinator for the United Way of Monroe County. “It’s heartwarming to see so many people donating – it’s amazing.”

The Student Alumni Association and United Way committee members began setting up at 6 a.m. for the 2 p.m. event, said sophomore Amanda Stahl, co-director of the Cornhole tournament. Food and music began around 5 p.m. followed by the Homecoming bonfire at 7 p.m.

Stahl said it’s exciting to see people come back to claim their victory and said she is most excited to be partnered with Dean of Students Dick McKaig in the tournament. Teams had two chances to play because of the loser’s bracket and the championship rounds, Stahl said.

Free food, live music and the bonfire helped create a successful Cornhole Tournament atmosphere and Homecoming spirit, Stahl said. She said United Way’s theme “Give. Advocate. Volunteer. Live United” has been great to encourage more students to get involved without necessarily donating money.

Director of Student Programs for the IU Alumni Association Conor McIntyre said the Greek Strategic Planning Committee worked to get two representatives from each greek house involved in planning the week’s  events.

“We’ve been working with a phenomenal group of students,” McIntyre said. He said they supplied each greek house white sheets to make banners, red lights, cornstalks and an extra large cornhole boards to decorate their front lawn before judging Tuesday night.

“There’s been a long history of greek lawn decorations, and we are planning to add more and more every year,” McIntyre said. He also added the cornhole boards and bag sets were hand-made by students involved with the SAA last year.

Many students gathered to be involved with Homecoming week and compete for the free weekly Papa John’s pizza for a year and Herf Jones rings presented at the game against Northwestern on Saturday.

Students, volunteers and even family members, like Debbie Deig, came out to cheer on teams.

Unfortunately for her, “Team Laura and Kameron” lost its first match.

“The first people they played were like Big Ten players,” Debbie Deig said.

But even after the loss, Laura Deig said she still had hope of doing well in the loser’s bracket.

“This is one of the first voluntary things I’ve chose to do for myself while at IU,” Deig said. “It’s been a lot of fun so far.”