REAL COOL STORIES (week ended 3/9/24)
Have you ever played cornhole? It’s a very popular summer game at the beach, a barbeque, etc.
You can get a cornhole set cheaply, but there are also very expensive sets. You can get a cornhole set with the logo from your favorite college or pro team, patriotic sets with American flags or a plain wood board. On the American Cornhole Association website (yes, that does exist!), the sets costs about $300. The regulation board is 2’ by 4’. They also set smaller versions for tailgates and practice.
However, my curiosity was peaked when I read that two 17-year-olds from Colorado landed college scholarships to play cornhole at Winthrop University in South Carolina.
WHAT? Yep, Jaxson Remmick and Gavin Hamann received partial (approximately 60%) scholarships to play cornhole! Tiny Winthrop, a Division I school, does not have a football team. Winthrop has made a major investment in nontraditional sports. They have one of the best esports teams in the country.
The two met in Colorado at a local cornhole tournament. They became fast friends and won a couple High School National Championships. They hope to repeat at the college level. While cornhole is not an “official” NCAA sport, the American Cornhole League (ACL) hosts a series of college events culminating in a National Championship. The ACL is in Rock Hill, South Carolina, just a HALF MILE from the Winthrop campus.
Winthrop has hired a professional Cornhole player, Dusty Thompson, to coach the Winthrop team. Besides Jaxson and Gavin, the team hopes to add about six more players. The young men will arrive in South Carolina in August and are fired up for the season which runs from October through December. ESPN has the broadcast rights for the Championships which were in late December 2023.
A real, cool story indeed!