October 10, 2024
Despite it being their first season, Winthrop cornhole has high aspirations and expectations
Cornhole is often not the first sport people think of when it comes to college sports – or perhaps the second, third or fourth sport. However, Winthrop wants to be known for its cornhole team, similarly to how people think of Alabama’s football program or Duke’s basketball program.
Just down the road from Winthrop, inside the Technology Way Center, resides the American Cornhole League (ACL) headquarters. Originally located in Charlotte, NC, the ACL decided to move their headquarters to Rock Hill. This move got the ball rolling on the creation of Winthrop’s cornhole team.
Head coach Dusty Thompson said, “It only made sense with the World Championship coming to Rock Hill and the world headquarters being here in Rock Hill that the local school have a college team.”
Coach Thompson, a former professional cornhole player, was originally unsure about joining the team.
“I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do it or not, honestly. But it worked out that I did it, and obviously made national news like it did,” said Thompson.
Winthrop first made national news for its cornhole program in February for offering the first ever athletic scholarships for cornhole. The scholarships were covered by major news companies like NBC and The Washington Post.
The players who were offered the scholarships, Gavin Hamann and Jaxson Remmick, decided to join the team for not just the scholarships – but to potentially pave the way for collegiate cornhole. This sentiment is shared across the board by the team.
Zackary Stickney, the cornhole team’s content manager, said, “We are paving the way for collegiate cornhole and we’re already role models that young kids are looking up to. The sport of cornhole is still young and I believe that it will continue growing to become a commonly known sport across the world.”
Winthrop cornhole player Colson Clary also feels a great sense of pride and responsibility when it comes to helping the sport grow.
“It is a great feeling being a trailblazer in a sport that I love, and to do it with the great personalities and talents that we have got on this team. You cannot ask for much more than that,” said Clary.
The opening of the ACL headquarters and potential to be trailblazers for the sport certainly were two big reasons for the creation of the time. However, changes to the National College Cornhole Championship also helped Winthrop.
Originally, players would participate in the championship representing a college by just representing their school – without even having to play. Or they would play and represent for a college without ever playing for it.
Thanks to the sports rise in popularity, the championship will now feature 40 plus teams with players that not just represent the school – but actually go there. This change allowed Winthrop to go all in on cornhole.
Another way Winthrop is banking on cornhole’s success is making it available to watch for everyone.
“There’s always live streams so they can follow the cornhole [games] on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, we’re on all of them,” said coach Thompson. “They can watch it anywhere, because we’ll be live on these social media platforms, and we have a pro broadcast going. So basically, I would say, pretty much what you see on TV you will be able to see through Facebook or something like. We will be live streaming from there in case they can’t make it.”
Creating social media content is a major aspect of the team. Besides working on the main team page, players are also required to put together content at least once a week for their socials.
This emphasis on social media content is partially why Stickney, a current professional cornhole player, was brought aboard.
“I got the opportunity to come to Winthrop to create content for the team. Since I’m ineligible to play at the college level because of my pro status, this was a great way to be involved with the team,” Stickney said. “I plan to master content creation, specifically video editing and use it with the marketing degree I am pursuing.”
Social media is just one way the team plans to grow the game. As previously mentioned, scholarships play a huge role in attracting top players to Winthrop. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that building a team of top recruits through scholarship opportunities is the most significant way coach Thompson plans to become a household name in college athletics.
“Our main goal is to keep these five star recruits rolling in and stay on top of the college scene for as many years as we can do it. That doesn’t mean just the next four years, because we got a bunch of players. That means the next 10-15 years,” coach Thompson said.
These top recruits also bring in a culture of winning, whether it’s in cornhole or another sport.
Cornhole player Luke Bryant played running back in high school and was a four time state champion. Player Jake Hernandez won two state championships for golf in high school. Bringing in players who have won championships helps build that winning culture that creates dynasties.
Despite all this hype about Winthrop cornhole beyond this season, players are staying focused on this season more than anything.
“We all at the end of the day want to take home a National Championship in teams, doubles, and singles,” said Clary.
The division of singles, doubles and teams gives the Winthrop cornhole players the opportunity to play against one another in the championship – which coach Thompson absolutely wants to see happen.
“My main goal [this season] is probably something crazy that most people wouldn’t really think of, but my main goal is to have Winthrop play Winthrop in the championship on singles and doubles on ESPN,” said coach Thompson.
Coach Thompson continued, “The way it works is there’s four brackets, no matter how many people are there in doubles and singles. So that way they have the semifinals and then the finals all at once on ESPN. So my goal is to have Winthrop play Winthrop on ESPN in singles, doubles, and if all goes well, teams as well.”
Winthrop cornhole’s hype within cornhole circles is certainly helping their efforts to grow, now it’s about getting students to come out to games and support the team.
With the ACL headquarters just down the road and the national hype surrounding the team, now is the perfect time to go out to a match and witness a potential dynasty. For updates regarding the matches, be sure to follow @winthrop_cornhole on Instagram.
