The co-pastor of Courtland’s Community Praise and Worship Center has an addiction that’s making her money.

Sharon Seal is capitalizing on her latest habit and Western Tidewater’s latest craze: the lawn game cornhole.

The 42-year-old Courtland woman makes and sells the corn-filled duct cotton baggies to play cornhole, which is becoming commonplace at backyard barbecues and fundraising tournaments. Participants toss the bags a distance of 27 feet onto a raised platform, which has a hole at the far end.

“I started playing last year,” Seal said. “No one around here made the bags. My mom had taught me how to sew, and I started making them myself.”

Bags weigh 14 ounces to 16 ounces. They are filled with feed corn or plastic pellets. Seal uses duct cotton, which is similar to the material used to make seat belts. She also makes plywood scorekeepers.

Seal, like many, enjoys playing cornhole.

“It’s an addicting game,” she said. “You start to play and you can’t stop.”

That’s what happened to Franklin’s Tony Longoria.

A self-employed contractor, Longoria played for the first time two years ago during a wedding reception at the American Legion in Franklin.

“They had a set of boards, but I thought it was for children – a little-kid game,” he said. “It’s harder than it looks.”

Today, the 31-year-old belongs to the American Cornhole Organization, the governing body of the sport. Longoria competes around the region. Tuesday evenings are spent playing Cornhole at Fred’s Restaurant. Wednesday nights are spent at the Ag Center doing — what else? — playing Cornhole.

“The best thing about it is anybody can play,” Longoria said. “We have women, old people. My son, who is 9, plays in tournaments.”

Tony Longoria also makes the 2- by 4-foot Cornhole boards, which stand 9 inches off the ground at the top end. A corn bag in the hole scores 3 points; one on the platform scores 1 point. Play continues until a player reaches the score of 21.

Cornhole matches are broken down into innings, or frames of play. During each inning, every player throws four bags.

A player may deliver the bag from either the left or right pitcher’s box, but, in any one inning, all bags must be delivered from the same pitcher’s box. It is possible that both players can throw from the same pitcher’s box.

Also, the player gets a 3-foot box to throw in.

Each player must deliver the bag within 20 seconds.The time starts when the player steps onto the pitcher’s box with the intention of pitching.

The player who scored in the preceding inning pitches first in the next inning. If neither pitcher scores, the contestant or team who pitched last in the preceding inning pitches first in the next inning.

Cornhole can be played as either doubles or singles.

In doubles play, four players split into two teams. One member from each team pitches from one platform, and the other members pitch from the other.

The first side of players alternate pitching bags until both players have thrown all four of their bags; then the players pitching from the opposing cornhole board continue to alternate in the same manner until all four of their bags are delivered and the inning or frame is completed. In singles play, two players play against each other.

Delivery is handled in the same manner as doubles play. Both contestants pitch from the same Cornhole platform and alternate their pitches until all of their bags have been pitched, completing the inning or frame.

Allen Drewry got into playing Cornhole two years ago. The 41-year-old self-employed Franklin electrician and plumber has his sights set on going to the ACO’s national competition in Las Vegas. Drewry may face Matt Guy, a native of Alexandria, Ky., who in January became the “King of Cornhole” for the fourth consecutive year.

Drewry is considered semi-pro. He earned the ranking by participating in the Skills Challenge program sponsored by ACO. The Skills Challenge program determines one’s rank among all ACO members. Drewry ranks 82 among 186, according to the ACO website.

Drewry had to play three frame games back-to-back. The average score from the games determined what’s known as his Skill Challenge Rank. ←