MedCity News medical cornhole tournament is Thursday

Thirty-two teams have filled the tournament bracket for the first annual MedCity News Cornhole Tournament at 4 p.m. Thursday at the upper Edgewater Park pavilion.

Organizations from Cleveland Clinic and BioEnterprise to Hyland Software and Calfee, Halter & Griswold are in. Plus, there are unconfirmed reports of cornhole practice sessions by teams like Kaiser Permanente and Medical Mutual determined to win the tournament (or at least advance out of the first round). The winning team will walk away with its own cornhole set, $100 gift certificate to Brennan’s Catering and bragging rights as the best cornhole players in health care.

This is both a cornhole tournament and a networking event. So anyone from the health-care industry is welcome to come by, cheer on a team or just enjoy the spectacle. It’s free to attend and participate on Thursday. The only cost is for onlookers who want some of the hot dogs, hamburgers and other picnic food available. It costs $15 to eat.

And for those who can’t make it but want to watch, visit MedCityNews.com where we’ll have a live video feed from the event.

Below are directions, rules of cornhole and other details. If you have questions, contact MedCity News via e-mail or call (216) 453-2662 ext. 107.

For the teams
Cornhole beanbags start flying at 4:30 p.m. But please come in advance of the start time to sign in and get your free cornhole t-shirts and wristbands that give you access to the food. There are eight cornhole sets, so the first round will be broken up into two sets of first-round matches.

Directions
From 90 E/Route 2 take the Lake Road exit(do not take the Edgewater Park exit). Veer right toward Edgewater Park. Pull into the park and follow signs to the pavilion, which is at the end of the road. Parking is available right in front of the pavilion.

Basic cornhole rules
This is a fun event, and everyone will be forgiving about the rules. But the tournament will be run under the official setup and rules of cornhole. Here are the rules to keep in mind.

• Cornhole sets are 27 feet apart from one another. Teammates throw four bags from opposite sides of one another alongside the cornhole platform. An “inning” consists of both teams throwing a combined eight bags each.
• A team wins when it is the first to reach or exceed 21 points.
• A bag in the hole is worth three points. A bag on top of the platform (a bag in the count) is worth one point. Keep this in mind: Opponents throwing in the same half-inning will cancel one another’s bags. For example, if opponents match one another by each putting a bag in the hole, those bags cancel one another out. Only uncanceled bags count for points.
• Fun: You are not required to have fun. But it will be hard not to.