ATHABASCA — A new recreational outlet is laying roads into Boyle, but the driving force is coming from beyond village limits — about an hour and twenty minutes outside, to be specific.
Paul DesRosiers has only been playing cornhole for a year, but he’s already identified the Village of Boyle as prime real estate for the up-and-coming sport. DesRosiers is working alongside Caslan-local Cathy Fagnan, and the pair are leaving few stones unturned in the search for funding to establish a nationally affiliated cornhole league in Boyle.
Fagnan presented to Athabasca County councillors during their Jan. 30 meeting, submitting an ask for a grant of up to $5,000 in funding, which she said would help kickstart the bean bag toss league’s establishment and bring more attention to the communities in the area.
“Things keep closing — the hospital’s kinda shut down for part of the time, the bank is going to close, it’s lots of depressing news,” Fagnon told councillors. “I want there to be more things to do in the county of Athabasca, in the Boyle area, things people can participate in.”
“Anyone can play it, all ages, all skill levels,” said Fagnan. “It’s become such a popular thing now that there’s actually a Canadian Cornhole Association. There are leagues all across Alberta where people, if they want, can play at a very serious level.”
She noted any funding from Athabasca County would go towards the purchase of eight sets of cornhole boards and bags, as well as tablets for a scoring system. County councillors voted unanimously to accept the presentation as information and encouraged Fagnan to apply for funding under the grants to organizations policy.
“It’s great that they’re working to create something to do in the community, and I think that the county does already provide support through the funding of the (Boyle) Community Centre. We have a process in place, and if they follow that process there could be funding available,” said county Reeve Brian Hall during council.
The presentation to county council came two weeks after DesRosiers first brought his proposal to Village of Boyle councillors during their Jan. 17 meeting. Although he couldn’t deliver the pitch in-person, he said he took a page out of a fellow cornhole enthusiast’s book.
“I was talking to a friend in who has a league in Whitecourt … he got his all sponsored and funded by local businesses, and the Town of Whitecourt sponsored cash to help him get his boards, his tablets, and some bags to get the league going,” said DesRosiers.
“If they get league sanctioned, it’s going to be a big thing for the community,” said Coun. Shelby Kiteley during councillor discussion.
“They’re obviously pro-community. If they’re taking the incentive to bring something into our community, they’re the kind of people we want to work with. It’s exciting to have people like that,” said Boyle Mayor Colin Derko.
While councillors decided a monetary sponsorship is beyond their capacity, they did agree to give DesRosiers a break on the rental fees for the Community Centre. The league will pay the basement rate of $75 per rental for the upstairs rather than the regular $150 for the main floor, minus the kitchen.
“That’s really good,” said DesRosiers. Although a sponsorship would have put the league closer to its funding goal, he said the village’s decision is still a win. “They’re willing to give us the hall at a reduced rate, which is super cool, and allow it to happen. I feel good about that, and so does Kathy.”
A passionate community
Despite being relatively new to the sport, DesRosiers quickly developed a passion for the pastime. During the summers, he pitches for his slo-pitch team, but said he was in search of an activity to fill the downtime in the off-season.
“When ball is done in August, there’s nothing really left to do. I wanted to keep practising, keep my pitching motions going and muscle memory,” said DesRosiers. He was introduced to the sport through a friend of his girlfriend, who invited him to join.
“I’m like, ‘Well what the hell is cornhole?’” said DesRosiers. “So I signed up and I played, and I didn’t do so well the very first time, but I liked it. I saw the concept, I saw how the game worked, and I liked it because it’s very similar to pitching baseball.”
DesRosiers said the game fit into his routine like a three-point toss right through the hole.
“I just got more addicted to it," he said.
After incorporating the sport into the early months of 2023, DesRosiers said he came across another cornhole community during his summer trips to Athabasca County.
The topic of cornhole came up during a horseshoe competition in Boyle last summer, while DesRosiers was spending time at his lot at Mewatha Beach.
“I got talking to people more and more throughout that tournament and found out there’s a lot of players that play cornhole up there in the summertime in their backyards.”
In addition to the existing interest and his lake lot, cornhole connoisseur DesRosiers said he chose Boyle as the spot due to its location.
“When we register with CCL (Canadian Cornhole Leagues), that also covers Athabasca and a bunch of the surrounding area … once we open up in Boyle, then we’ve solidified the whole area and we’d be the only league,” in the area, he said.
DesRosiers and Fagnan said the sport has experienced tremendous growth in Canada recently, and communities such as Lacombe, Strathmore, Spruce Grove, Medicine Hat, and Edmonton are all examples of the sports sudden increase in popularity.
DesRosiers plays in both the Sturgeon County and Fort Saskatchewan-based leagues. According to the Cornhole Canada website, nine leagues exist in the province, and DesRosiers said competitive players, like himself, are willing to travel to boost their national standing.
Regional tournaments can come as often as every three weeks, and major point incentives for bigger events make for large draws. “When a provincial comes up and you’ve got dedicated players who are like, ‘Oh, I’ve got to get to provincials, I got a chance at points. I want the points, I need the points,’ and so that brings them in.”
DesRosiers did a soft launch of the league on social media and said the interest he identified in the area is still going strong. “My target was 30 to 40 players, but we got 60 players interested in playing.”
In order to reach their fundraising goal, DesRosiers said the next step of the plan is to reach out to local businesses for support and sponsorships.
Fagnon told county council she and DesRosiers are also considering creating a society in order to financially support themselves through recreational grants in the future — a funding model that would allow them “to host things like provincials, or regionals, or even national kinds of events to bring more people into the community,” said Fagnon.
League nights are scheduled for Mondays at 6:30 p.m., and although there is no set date for the first weekly event, DesRosiers and many interested players are eager to start tossing bags.
“People would DM me and say, ‘Well, when does this start?’ I’m like as soon as we get some funding and get some boards, you can’t play without boards.
Anyone interested in keeping up to date with the creation of the league can check out the Boyle Cornhole League Facebook page.
