Metro Weekly

Rogue Cornhole league recreates the ultimate tailgate experience at the Midlands Beer Garden

The LGBTQ cornhole league offers comradery and competition

Cornhole — Photo: WoodysPhotos

Kevin Comerford got his first taste of cornhole in the best setting possible: at a North Carolina State tailgate party. “I’m competitive by nature, so I was immediately hooked on it,” says the commissioner of D.C.’s Rogue Cornhole league.

A popular game among football fans, cornhole has become a staple of tailgate parties, particularly in college towns across the Midwest and South. And it’s that same spirit of collegial, competitive fun that LGBTQ-focused Rogue Cornhole replicates at its weekly events.

The game itself is relatively simple: To win, teams takes turns throwing cloth bags filled with corn kernels at wooden boards with holes cut into them. One point is given if your bag lands on top of the board, three points if your bag falls into one of the holes, and throwers can knock their opponents’ bags off the board to gain a point advantage. Games continue until a team scores 21 points.

In Rogue Cornhole’s league, which meets Wednesdays at The Midlands Beer Garden in the Park View neighborhood of D.C., each team carries two to four people, and they play as many matches as possible in a 40-minute window — typically eight to ten. Rogue Cornhole’s fall season is already underway, but registration for a second season, in the spring, will start in February.

Comerford says one of the key appeals of cornhole is that there are few physical limitations. It is truly open to everyone.

“Cornhole is a very social game,” he says. “You play alongside your opponent, so you get to meet new people. It’s competitive, but also casual enough where you can hold a drink in one hand, and throw with the other. It’s a very easy game to learn and play, for people of every age.”

Rogue Cornhole’s fall season runs through Nov. 28, meeting from 7-10 p.m. on Wednesdays at The Midlands Beer Garden, 3333 Georgia Ave. NW. For more information, visit rlsports.org/cornhole.

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