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Cornhole Rules

Cornhole Rules

Our Cornhole rules are created and design to maximize play and social opportunities for all participants.  We want to encourage players of all levels and skills to play for the maximum amount of duration to improve their game and to allow opportunities to socialize and mingle with others.  We hope you enjoy playing with us!

Cornhole Rules For League Play:

Waivers: All players and participants must sign a waiver before playing their first game.

Sportsmanship Goal: Providing a safe and fun environment for the players. Unsportsmanlike conduct will not be tolerated.
No swearing directly at another player or official
No intentional acts of violence (pushing, shoving or intentional physical contact)
No verbal threats or comments to instigate an altercation with any person the player will be suspended immediately from play and the park, and further game suspensions may follow and will not necessarily include or be limited to the player.
If at any time during a game if there are any concerns with the opposing team players, the team captain will address the issue with the other team captain with the presence of the official during a break or halftime. If the issue has not been resolved by the end of the game please forward any concerns to play@niagarasportandsocial.com

Niagara Sport & Social Club Cornhole Rules:
1. ROSTER/WAIVERS:
There is no maximum number of players allowed on a cornhole team roster; however, players must be registered with Niagara Sport & Social Club and must sign the Niagara Sport & Social Club waiver to be able to participate.  

We play a 4-vs-4 players team game format (also known as "Crew Format") with 2 players from each team located at opposite ends and alternating tosses within the team between players.

2. PLAYER ELIGIBILITY:
Niagara Sport & Social Club staff may require players to verify their eligibility at their discretion. If a player is ruled ineligible, the offending team will be assessed a loss for that game.

3. SPORTSMANSHIP:
Niagara Sport & Social Club expects all participants to play with the highest level of sportsmanship. Rude or demeaning behavior to venue staff, the opposing team, your own team members, and/or spectators will not be tolerated under any circumstances. Unsportsmanlike behavior may result in that player being ejected from the game. An ejection may result in further suspension from participation in current and/or future Niagara Sport & Social Club sports. An ejected player is required to leave the premises immediately. Refusal to leave the premises may result in a team forfeit and/or suspension.

Any disputes or complaints regarding sportsmanship or ejection can be addressed with the league after the day of play in which the incident took place. On the day of the incident, the decision made by Niagara Sport & Social Club staff or venue staff will be considered final and disputes will not be addressed by the league.

4. TEAMS/FORFEITS:
We play a 4-vs-4 players team game format with 2 players from each team located at opposite ends and alternating tosses within the team between players.
The minimum number of players required to play a legal game is 2 players. All games will have a 15 minute grace period if a team does not have 2 players present. If a team does not possess the minimum amount of players to start once the grace period has expired, the opposing team will receive a win for the first game of the match. If the team does not possess the minimum number of players by 30 minutes past game time, a forfeit will be assessed.
If you know your team can't make it.  Please email us right away at play@niagarasportandsocial.com so we can ask a team to come in earlier or later to fill in your spot so your opponent can have a game.  If a team doesn't show,  please see if you can find a team at the bar that can come down and play an extra game for fun.  As that is the main purpose of our leagues is to play and make friends.

5. TEAM POINTS AWARDED:
The winning team will be awarded 1 point.
The losing team will not be awarded any points.
In the instance of a tie, play continues until a team wins by 2 points. NO ROLL-BACKS!

6. GAME EQUIPMENT:
All cornhole equipment will be provided by Niagara Sport & Social Club.  DO NOT bring your own bags or other equipment.  This allows an equal playing opportunity for all participants.

7. HOW TO PLAY THE GAME:
There are 8 bags provided, 4 for each team. Captains will play rock, paper, scissors (best 2 out of 3), with the winner choosing which team tosses first. Teams alternate throwing first each set, i.e. the team that tosses first to start the first set will toss last to start the second set.

Partners will face each other at opposite board sets so as to not provide an advantage to one team or another. Once a set has started, partners must remain on their same side of the cornhole board for the entire set.
Teams may have up to 2 pitchers on each end for at total of 4 players per team, however, they must rotate every toss throughout the set. 
Example:
At one end:
Blue Team Player 1 Tosses,
Then Red Team Player 1 Tosses,
Then Blue Player 2 Tosses,
Then Red Team Player 2 Tosses,
Repeat until all 8 bags ( 4 Red Bags & 4 Blue Bags ) have been tossed.

At the other end:
Then Blue Player 3 Tosses,
Then Red Player 3 Tosses,
Then Blue Player 4 Tosses,
Then Red Player 4 Tosses,
Repeat until all 8 bags ( 4 Red Bags & 4 Blue Bags ) have been tossed.

Teams can switch pitchers between sets. If a player arrives late, they must wait until the set is over to enter the game, unless the captain of the opposing team consents to them joining in the middle of the set.


3 PLAYER FORMAT:
It is highly recommended that you quickly add another player to their team roster and or borrow a player or two from another team to help. Go to the bar area and ask / search to find a spare to fill in! (Please don't look & search for the strongest player, just find someone of the same caliber as the division you are playing in.)  This is a crew/4-player team format league.  Please strive to keep our focus on obtaining that goal so it is fair play for all teams.

If a team only has 3 players -  The player that tosses the extra bags must rotate to allow each player on team to be the player with the extra tosses.  This way, each player on the team has the opportunity to toss the extra bags.  This rule is in place to prevent the best player from always tossing the extra bags.
Example:

This Scenario:  The Red Team Only Has 3 Players 
At one end:

Blue Team Player 1 Tosses,
Then Red Team Player 1 Tosses,
Then Blue Player 2 Tosses,
Then Red Team Player 2 Tosses,
Repeat until all 8 bags ( 4 Red Bags & 4 Blue Bags ) have been tossed.

At the other end:
Then Blue Player 3 Tosses,
Then Red Player 3 Tosses,
Then Blue Player 4 Tosses,
*Then Rotational Red Player (X) Tosses (Rotate Player After Each Game within the Match),*
Repeat until all 8 bags ( 4 Red Bags & 4 Blue Bags ) have been tossed.

**Rotational Player are as follows:
Red Player 1 = Game 1 within the Match
Red Player 2 = Game 2 within the Match
Red Player 3 = Game 3 within the Match
Repeat the rotations per game for the duration of the match.

There will never be a single player tossing all 4 bags in one end of a game within the match.


2 PLAYER FORMAT:

If a team only has 2 players - Each player will be placed at opposite ends.  Only 1 player will be allowed to toss from each end.  That one player is allowed to toss a maximum of 2 bags out of 4.  The other 2 bags will considered "Dirty Bags" and not be permitted to be tossed.
This rule is in place to prevent teams of 2 players only and/or prevent teams from just using their top 2 players to compete.
If teams want to prevent wasting/defaulting their 2 bags per end, it is highly recommended that you quickly add another player to your their team roster and or borrow a player or two from another team to help. Go to the bar area and ask / search to find a spare to fill in! (Please don't look & search for the strongest player, just find someone of the same caliber as the division you are playing in.) This is a crew/4-player team format league. Please strive to keep our focus on obtaining that goal so it is fair play for all teams

Teams will alternate pitches (pitches must be an underhand toss - overhand is not permitted) until all bags are thrown. Once all 8 bags are thrown, teams will agree upon the scoring (as described below) and will update the scoreboard. If there is a scoring dispute, the league coordinator should be pulled in for a ruling prior to the bags being moved.

Players must stay behind the foul line when pitching. The foul line is defined as the imaginary line that runs horizontally from the front edge of the board.

The team that scores points will toss first in the next frame. If nobody scores, the order will remain the same, i.e. the team that tossed first in the prior frame will toss first again.

Play will continue until the first to team to reaches 21 points = Wins! The team that reaches 21 points will win the set. 
Must win by 2 points, (For example:  Team A has 20 points and team B has 20 points, play continues until one team wins by 2 points like 22-24) No Cap!  NO ROLL-BACKS!


NEW!!! - Matches include as many games as you can play within the one hour time slot.
The idea is to play for approximately 1 hour. 

SCORING:
Cornhole! = 3 points will be awarded for a bag in the hole, which is defined as a bag which thrown through the hole in the platform or otherwise comes to rest inside the platform by being knocked in by another player's bag.

Woody! = 1 point will be awarded for a bag in the count, which is defined as a bag that has any portion resting on the platform. If a bag touches the ground and then comes to rest on the platform, it will be considered a foul and must be removed from the board immediately and no points will be awarded.

Bag Out of the Count = 0 points will be awarded for a bag out of the count, which is defined as a bag that comes to rest anywhere except in the count or in the hole. A foul bag will be considered to be out of the count and must be removed from the court immediately.

Cancellation scoring will be in effect!, i.e. the score recorded at the end of each frame will be the difference in the points between the 2 teams.
For example:   If Team 1 makes 2 bags in the hole for a total of 6 points and Team 2 makes 2 bags in the count for a total of 2 points, the result would be Team 1 scoring 4 total points (6 - 2 = 4).

FOUL BAGS:
A foul bag is a bag that is delivered in non-compliance with the rules of the game. All foul bags are considered out of the count and must be removed from play immediately. If a foul bag contacts any bags that are in the count, those bags will be replaced at their original positions, even if the bag is in the count and is knocked in the hole by the foul bag. Foul bags will be assessed in the following instances:
Any bag not delivered within 20 seconds of a player's turn beginning.
"Dirty Bag!" = Any bag that contacts the ground.
A player crosses the foul line on the toss.
A player tosses out of turn.


To Record Score and Update Your Team Standings:

Captain will go to our website www.niagarasportandsocial.com and at the top right hand side of the website click "Login"

Once logged in, you will see your dashboard.  Click on your team name and you will see the schedule.  Each game within the schedule, you will see the words "Record Score" or "Dispute Score".  If no score was recorded by you or your opponent, it will say "Record Score" and all the rest of the games that say "Dispute Score" are scores your opponent has put in for you on your behalf.


To help you with inputting the points for your team standings:

It's the winner of the majority of games played within the match = wins!

Captian will login and click on their team name to view their team schedule to "Record Score" (Desktop Version) or Select Trophy icon (Mobile Version) to enter score.
Captain will record 1 point for winning the match and a 0 for losing the match.  Both scores for your team and your opponent's team must be entered and saved at this point.

Using a random scenario:

Your opponent won 1 game
You win 2 games

You have won the majority of games within the match so you would record the score as 1 point for your team and 0 points for your opponent.
Now, if you were tied at 1 game each or 2 games each then the last game you are playing would come into effect.  Whoever, was leading by 2 points or more on the scoreboard of the tie-breaking game would win the match even if the score of the tie-breaking game was only something like 4 - 2.  If the tie-breaking game was tied as well say 8 - 8, you would keep playing until someone wins by 2 points, example 10 - 8.

PLAYOFFS:

SEEDING:
Playoff seedings will be determined by the best overall records. In the event that 2 teams are tied with the same record, head-to-head matchups will determine higher seedings whenever possible. When head-to-head matchups cannot clearly determine a higher seed, or when 3 or more teams are tied, tiebreakers will be determined in the following order:
1) Head-to-head matchups (for 2 way ties when possible, described above)
2) Highest team set differentials for the season
3) Highest team point differentials for the season
4) Highest team total sets won
5) Highest team total points for the season
6) Lowest team total points allowed for the season
7) Coin Flip

These basic cornhole rules are there help your team have a fun and enjoyable game fair to all participants.  Should you ever have any questions or concerns about our cornhole rules please call or email us anytime!

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