Bring on the Woodchuckers

There’s a new sport in town. The Whitecourt Cornhole League held its first public event on Wednesday
last week at Festival Park, just beyond the parking lot in front of the playground. The event was a
precursor to the league and was meant to put the game in the public eye, drum up interest and invite
people out to give it a whirl.
After participating in a league in Stoney Plain, Woody Jordan, the league’s president, said he knew there
needed to be a league in Whitecourt. “I think it was long overdue,” said Jordan. After playing out of
town for a few months, he brought a friend to check it out. “I brought my friend Chad (St. Amand), and
he liked it too. We decided to start up the league here.”
Jordan explained that when they came up with their name, the Whitecourt Cornhole League, they also
wanted a unique title to go along with it. “Tyler Caddey came up with it. We were snowballing ideas. We
thought about the Whitecourt Cornhole League, but then we said we wanted to have a name with it
too, so he came up with the Woodchuckers. We didn’t come up with anything else, so we ran with that.”
Their mascot, Chuck, as seen on their logo and boards, came from a connection to Canfor, which Jordan
said he’s pretty happy about.
Jordan and St. Amand recently applied for and were approved for a chunk of the 2023 Enhanced Grant
funding provided by the Town of Whitecourt. They graciously accepted a check for $3,797 to help them
purchase boards and bags for the league. They also received support from Candor ($750) and JT
Enterprises ($500).
The event on Wednesday was just the beginning. “It was a social event to get people out and put word
out that we are setting up a league,” said Jordan. “Anyone who showed up, we got them to sign up for
the Scoreholio app, so we don’t have to do that on the first night of the league.” The Scoreholio app
simplifies tournaments and gameplay by allowing users to keep track of their scores without needing to
hand in paperwork.
“Anyone that’s used the Scoreholio app, it streamlines the process. There’s no need to hand in your
scores because we will have tablets on each board, and you will submit your score. It’ll send you a text,
let you know whether you won or lost, and send a text to the next four people playing on that board,”
explained Jordan. He said the app is free to use.
League action will kickstart on Tuesday, September 19, at 7 p.m., running as a drop-in-type sport.
Players will pay $10/per person/night or pay for each season in full ($100) up front. Each season will run
for twelve weeks. “We are going to do a fall season, and then we will switch into a winter season,
starting in January. The fall season will run from September 19 to about December 19.”
With their funding, the Whitecourt Cornhole League will have six pairs of boards when play begins. They
had three pairs of boards at Festival Park on Wednesday. “If the interest is booming and we think we
need more, we are pretty sure we have space to put eight, if not nine, in there. But, we have no problem
doing 40 players a night on six boards,” said Jordan.
He said the more, the merrier when it comes to the size of the league. “We have about twelve people in
the league, and that’s before even opening up registration. I had a buddy of mine text me, and he said

he’s got ten, maybe fifteen people that will probably sign up. It’s growing. We are getting messages
almost daily saying they want the registration info. It’s going to grow quickly,” said Jordan.
One of his favourite things about cornhole is the wide range of ages that can play it. “The league I played
in, there were people anywhere from 20-year-olds to almost eighty years old. The nice thing about the
app was that it paired you up with a random partner every game, so it was really social, and you weren’t
going there just to play with your buddy. You got to meet a lot more people. It was astonishing. I was
partnered with a guy on the first week of the season, and he didn’t put a bag on the board the whole
game. Then, in the last week of the season, he scored ten points in one round. A little bit of consistency
that you can build from playing once a week, it’s amazing.”
The league will be for ages 18 plus, but Jordan said, depending on interest, he would be open to building
a youth league. He said he would need help to do it, and they would likely need a different facility, one
that hopefully wouldn’t charge, as a youth league wouldn’t bring in the same revenue to cover rental
fees.
Jordan said he is excited to start the season and hopes to see many people out on Tuesday, September
19, at St. Joseph’s Church Hall. “Don’t be intimidated. It’s a lot easier than it looks. You’ll miss the board
your first few times, but you’ll figure it out. It’s about having fun.”
Those interested in supporting the league can contact them on their Facebook page, Whitecourt
Cornhole League. Jordan said they are seeking monthly sponsorships of $500 to cover rental fees in
exchange for advertising on the winner’s board. The league is also seeking out their liquor license.
“There are things in the works,” smiled Jordan.