Sask. Cornhole Association hosting women’s-based competition for 3rd year in a row

The third annual “Lady Boss of the Toss” highlights female athletes in cornhole, featuring pros and rising Saskatchewan talent. Damian Smith has the story.

It’s a big week for the Saskatchewan cornhole community, with the Saskatchewan Cornhole Association (SCA) hosting the Lady Boss of the Toss for the third year in a row.

The event is a women’s-based competition, with some of the top cornhole athletes flying in from around North America to win a $9,000 prize.

“When we travel across the country and play in tournaments, typically the money goes home in men’s pockets, so we created a tournament where all the money goes home in ladies’ pockets.” said Kevin Bittman, SCA’s president.

According to the SCA, the event sold out within 48 hours, with 64 women playing singles and 36 doubles teams.

Some of the top female throwers in the world from the Arizona Burn hosted a clinic on Friday, and will have another one on Sunday, open to women only. The players present for the weekend are Kamryn Belvin, Samantha Finley, Gina Ramirez and Elizabeth Tennyson, along with general manager Mark Lopez and owner Richard Buchalter.

After an hour of the players and management fielding questions, participants joined the players for practice. While participants asked the players questions on types of shots such as the slide and air mail shot, those in the room did not discount the mental side of the game.

“Once you get the mechanics down, it’s all about being able to stay focused in the game and kind of not take yourself out of the game too much,” said Samantha Finley, one of the Burn players, travelling from Florida.

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It’s also an opportunity for Saskatchewan talent like 16-year-old Thea Bexson to learn, who travelled from Prince Albert to compete for the third year in a row. Bexson has been playing since she was 12 and continues to focus on the mental game.

“I really get into my head, so having them talking to me about how they control their mental side will really help me,” she said.

Gina Ramirez, who travelled from Phoenix, was impressed with the participants’ willingness to improve.

“I honestly just want the girls to learn the mental side from us a little bit,” said Ramirez, who has been competing for four years now. “Everyone can throw a bagger, but the questions they had today were great questions. I wasn’t expecting that.”

While Bexson is one of the younger competitors in the competition, Ramirez said there’s a push to bring in younger players across North America.

“I think over the next few years [it’s] definitely going to change, you see the kids right now kind of taking over,” she said. “The juniors in Arizona are set, because we have a great director out there trying to get it into all the schools. Cornhole is getting pretty big out there, now you can go get a scholarship too.”

The SCA has leagues in Weyburn, Saskatoon, Prince Albert, Moose Jaw, and Regina.

Of the 64 competitors, a few Americans travelled from North Dakota and Minnesota. Competitors from Canada were represented well for those from Alberta, with 25 participating. The SCA say they have around 350 players around the province playing on a regular basis.

Bittman said they hope they get 200 women to participate in next year’s event.

The tournament started Friday night and runs through Sunday.