<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3i8mBK_0wDKr5av00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3i8mBK_0wDKr5av00" width="1600" height="1067" ><figcaption>Witherill also makes custom boards for people, like this one for the World Soccer League team Austin FC logo. (David Minton/Staff Photographer) David Minton</figcaption></figure>As he works in his Tempe warehouse space, Nick Witherill seems to have accomplished the seemingly impossible.The Highland High alumnus is prying thousands of people’s eyes away from LED screens, re-focusing them on what many might consider terribly quaint – a board game.And in doing so, his Biñho Board just isn’t swimming against the digitally powered gaming tide but also has created a movement, with dozens of clubs composed of fans who just can’t get enough of his invention.Witherill’s invention consists of pretty simple components that mark a sharp contrast from the flash of ornately designed and eye-catching graphics and sound effects of popular games like Minecraft, Sims and Call of Duty.Within the confines of a wraparound wall designed to look like the perimeter of a rectangular stadium is a sturdy piece of plywood covered by a rugged turf-like surface with small nets at either end. In front of the nets are 10 equally spaced pegs that form a loose version of the triangular set-up of bowling pins.Two players, or a pair of two-player teams, sit at either end, their mission being to gently move the ball past the opposing set of pegs so that it lands in the net. First person to score seven nets wins.Don’t be misled by Biñho Board’s simplicity, Witherill warns: Flicking that ball with your index finger is bound to send the ball boomeranging back onto your side of the field, making it all that easier for your opponent to score.Rather than maximum finger force, players need gentle finger movements and the solid hand-eye coordination of a pool shark to win this game.Witherill is sitting on a goldmine that has spawned custom-ordered boards with the logos of players’ favorite soccer, football or other pro sports teams; Biñho Board swag like pens, mugs and T-shirts; and a legion of fans who include big-name professional athletes.Most of all, Biñho Board has given its creator a sense of purpose that eluded him for a few years after college and that now fuels his development of national and international connections in pursuit of making his brainchild the perfect alternative to the isolating hardware of digital gaming.Winding road to successThe 35-year-old Witherill took a winding road to the success he’s enjoying as he spreads the word about a game with nine simply rules – and some additional penalties for their violation or clumsy flicks of the ball.Though he grew up in an Ahwatukee home, he had a burning desire to be on a top-rated basketball team and landed at Saguaro High in Scottsdale as a varsity starter in his freshman because he knew assistant coach Mark Carlino.He ended up graduating from Highland High because Carlino got a head coaching job at there.Witherill played club basketball as well, then continued to pursue his passion for the game playing his freshman year at Washignton State University before transferring to Grand Canyon University, where he played the next three years.After college, he recalled, “I was a little bit lost I just did some gig work and then I started working at a mortgage company and that didn’t really work out. Then I worked at Yelp in Scottsdale and that wasn’t my thing either.“So that’s when I realized I needed to start my own business. I didn’t know what it was going to be yet, but I was just struggling to work in these types of environments.”He started training kids in Scottsdale and Gilbert for a livelihood but “that was pretty exhausting, so I started selling life insurance with my stepdad – which was good, better money but not fulfilling to me. So I started seeking out careers that wouldn’t be so physically exhausting, that would be more fulfilling.”In that time of uncertainty, Witherill’s future was born.From bored to a boardStill looking for a path to fulfillment, Witherill began toying with an idea of adapting soccer to a board game.He had developed a passion for and interest in soccer – ironically by playing a video version of the game sanction byFédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the global governing body of the world’s most popular sport.He searched online to find a “soccer flicking game that looked good” and “when I went to look, there was nothing.”That sent him to stores like Home Depot and Michael’s in search of roofing nails, rubber bands, white markers and other components of the crude initial versions of what evolved into Biñho Board.He christened the game “Biñho Board” partly after Ronaldinho Gaúcho, one of the greatest soccer players of all time. He added the tilde, or “ñ,” partly in deference to the strong Spanish and Mexican influences in soccer but also because the little squiggle atop the letter resembles a flicking finger.Through word of mouth and Instagram, friends and strangers saw him playing the game and asked him to make them a board.For the second half of 2018, Witherill said, “I was just hand-building little boards for people in Phoenix and I just started getting all these orders.“I was like, ‘I can’t make them all by myself. I need to figure out how to make this into a product. Clearly people want it.’ So then. I just ventured down that path.”Making it big-timeWitherill learned quickly that “it’s hard to manufacture things that are brand-new and I’m very specific about I want it built. So that led me to places all over Phoenix. I’d find myself in a machine shop in Apache Junction, the next day I’d be on the west side at an elastic band wholesaler.“I’d find myself at just all these random places all over Phoenix trying to find parts that would make it easier me to make and sell this.”By 2019, Witherill had developed a network of suppliers with the help of a broker in China who could source all the different unique parts of Biñho Board “because it’s a unique product.”And sales were starting to accelerated – thanks first to a small snippet on the game that was published just before the 2019 holiday shopping season by the hugely popular sports blog, Barstool Sports.“Then two days after Christmas (2019), ESPN published a feature on the Pittsburgh Steelers playing the game.”As 2020 began, Witherill started sharing a warehouse with his stepdad.Turned out quickly, he needed that warehouse: Just three months into 2020, the pandemic hit, people were stuck inside – and looking for a fun way to socialize that didn’t involve staring into an LED screen.“Sales went through the roof because people couldn’t get out,” Witherill said.While Witherill believes the simple but challenging fun of Biñho Board fuels its popularity, he believes it also stems from his own exacting standards for making an elegant product that is just as much at home on a living room coffee table as a high-end chess set.“The amount of variability is very enticing,” he said of playing the game. “It’s a very easy game for anybody to step in and play at any situation. But it’s also a tricky game to win… It’s challenging.”As for its design and manufacture, he said, “I always wanted the product to look really good. I wanted it to be something that you could leave out on a coffee table or the dining room table. Not only is the game really fun, but you can leave it out and bring value to your living space.”Nor does it require a knowledge of – or even a love for – sports in general and soccer in particular, he said.“I think everyone at their core is competitive to some extent and if you want to channel your inner competitiveness, you can do it on this game.“It’s a family game too, so there’s a lot of different uses for different situations.”He also custom-makes the basic playing field with the logos of sports teams desired by customers. With the basic game starting at $90, those orders are higher priced.Witherill is extremely picky about how well each part is produced by his various manufacturers.His nine employees share that attention to detail as they make sure every board, peg and other component – including a small rule book – are carefully packaged.As the game as grown, so have Biñho Board clubs and leagues.Fans in Indiana and Oklahoma are especially obsessed, he said. They held a tournament in Indiana in May and sold out 64 spots in three days.That’s led Witherill to plan a unique tournament to coincide with the 2016 World Cup of Soccer.He plans to sponsor tournaments in the 16 cities that host World Cup games and fly the top two winners from each to New York City when the World Cup final is played at Met Life Stadium in enarby New Jersey.In the meantime, he said, he’s looking to score placement on the shelves of select big-box retailers and launch licensing deals with companies in the European Union and United Kingdom, for starters.“We finally bit the bullet and went on Amazon and we’re in about 120 locations around the country – that’s increased from just 20 last year,” he said.“Our main target is Dick Sporting Goods because it’s kind of a sporty game,” he said.“They sell sports products. They have a lot of locations. To us, it seems to make the most sense, and we’re making a lot of traction with them right now.“But it’s a tough product to manufacture because there’s so much detail. And our customers really enjoy the quality and the attention to detail. They have high expectations for us.”Information: binhoboard.com</div></body>

Mountain View, CA

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Highland High alum’s game rolls to popularity

As he works in his Tempe warehouse space, Nick Witherill seems to have accomplished the seemingly impossible. The Highland High alumnus is prying thousands of people’s eyes away from LED screens, re-focusing them on what many might consider terribly quaint – a board game. And in doing so,...