Rainier Cornhole kicks off season with interstate championships

By Dylan Reubenking

dylan@yelmonline.com

Rainier Cornhole, a competitive cornhole club featuring 150 athletes, began its sixth season with the American Cornhole League (ACL) Interstate Championships at 23 Kitchens in Lacey from Friday, Oct. 4, through Sunday, Oct. 6.

Athletes donned new uniforms featuring Mount Rainier and the recently redesigned Rainier Cowgirl sign that returned to Rainier’s downtown district in August. Rainier Cornhole includes four skill levels: novice, intermediate, competitive and advanced.

This weekend’s season opener began with a blind draw and junior state singles competitions on Friday before continuing on Saturday with senior and women’s state singles. Each of the four skill levels competed in singles to close out Saturday as well as in doubles on Sunday.

Rhonda Colony, a Rainier resident, started Rainier Cornhole in October 2019 with her husband, Brian, after seeing how big of a draw the cornhole fundraiser at Mr. Dougs in Yelm had. They started running leagues at the Moose Lodge in Yelm, and halfway through the inaugural season, Rainier Cornhole joined the ACL.

Rhonda Colony said, although the club isn’t composed of many players from Rainier or even the Nisqually Valley, she appreciates that she and Brian can represent the small town on a larger scale.

“I think it’s amazing to be from a small town that … come on, we don’t even have a stoplight,” she said. “Such great things can come out of a place that’s so small.”

Colony’s goal is to not only grow Rainier Cornhole but to grow the game as a whole. The team is still adding players, and she hopes to grow the roster by 25% before the state championships in late May.

“We want to welcome new players, those backyard baggers, to come out and play. They’re always welcome to stop by, even if they want to just check it out and see it,” Colony said. “The ACL slogan is ‘anybody can play, anybody can win.’ I’ve turned that into ‘leveling up backyard players, one bag at a time.’ ”

Cody Kellens, a 2004 Yelm High School graduate and intermediate player, has been competing for over three years. While he has played cornhole recreationally his whole life, he became inspired to compete when a high school friend, Dean Norton of Rainier, became an ACL professional player.

“It’s almost like therapy away from life. You’re solely focused on throwing bags. You’re not worried about nothing,” Kellens said. “You’re worried about the person next to you and the camaraderie of the whole team. We’re family. Everybody knows everybody.”

Through his competitions, Kellens inspired his 8-year-old son to start playing in cornhole tournaments.

“I would love for him to get into it. I bought him his own bags and his own jersey. He plays in little tournaments here and there. I throw bags with him all the time,” he said. “We just do it for fun and to get him better at it. He’s naturally athletic. He’ll master it.”

Rainier Cornhole sports new uniforms each year, and the jerseys are available for sale. Colony said $5 from every sale will benefit a Rainier non-profit organization to be announced at a later date. She reached out to the Marquis family, who owned the store upon which the original Rainier Cowgirl was located, for permission to use the cowgirl’s likeness on the jerseys.

“I just love history, and so I reached out to Todd Stancil, and he got in touch with the family for me. They were excited about it, and everybody said yes,” Colony said.

To learn more about Rainier Cornhole and its upcoming events, visit its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/RainierCornhole and its website at https://rainiercornhole.com/.