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Georgina locals throw their way to Cornhole victory

September 5, 2024

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By Angie Sullivan

Oscar Balinas may have picked up his first Cornhole bag only two years ago, but that didn’t stop him from winning his division at the 2024 Canadian National Cornhole Championships!

The competition took place this year at the Golden Ears Winter Club in Maple Ridge, BC from August 14-18. The first Nationals were held in Barrie in 2021 after Cornhole Canada was formed as a national league in November of 2020.

Balinas, aged 50, is from Keswick and a member of the Georgina Cornhole league. He said, “I love the people you come across at the competitions, they all become family, even players from other leagues across the country.”

“The Battle of the Bag” –as the event is nicknamed –hosted four different tiers of players, from beginners to experts. Balinas is a Tier 4 player and faced off against 111 players in the mini-mixer. He and Erin Wright from Orillia won in the final tier-four round.

Balinas has his eyes set on taking first prize at next year’s Nationals scheduled to take place in Alberta. He said, “I plan to play more Cornhole, have fun, and get better at it.

Nayan Shah, a fellow player from Udora and director of the Canadian Cornhole Federation, said, “For his first year playing, he’s made some waves in the cornhole scene. He’s only going up from here.”

Shah knows what it takes to get to the top. He was a member of Team Canada at the World Cornhole Organization World Cup in Paris, France last summer where he and his teammates, Brandon Brown, Benny Portolasi, and Dave Beane took the bronze against 14 other countries.

Shah also learned his skills quickly. He said, “After playing my first league night in Cannington in February of 2022, cornhole has been a major part of my life. It’s a real addiction that I can’t get enough of. The cornhole community is filled with great, supportive people which makes every event that much sweeter.”

Shah is hoping Cornhole will make it to the Olympic stage and said, “This is a very inclusive sport where players can be any age, size, or fitness level and still play on equal footing.”

If you want to learn more about this growing sport, you can visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/cornholecanada.