Westport Department of Parks and Recreation sent an email on May 29 to the 20 registered participants of the Parks and Rec Cornhole League notifying them of the season’s cancellation just one day before the first of seven weekly matchups. Citing a decline in enrollment from 20 teams in the first two seasons in 2022 and 2023 to six teams in 2024, in addition to irreversible damage incurred to the town-owned cornhole boards, Parks and Rec Commissioner Maxwell Robbins notified participants from these six teams that their season would not continue and that their $165 per team registration fee would be waived.
Participants quickly reacted, including Westport citizen Julie Zelman, who would be participating in her third cornhole season with her team “Natural Corn Killers.”
“I’ve been doing core and arm exercises all winter, in addition to cornhole mindset training and I’m very disappointed,” Zelman said. “I hope they figure out a way to bring it back for the summer.”
Leading the initiative to reinstate cornhole is David Boxenbaum, who saw the cancellation as an opportunity to expand the program. In collaboration with commissioner Robbins, they created an undisclosed plan to fund the new cornhole equipment and recruit new teams, while adjusting the dates of the 2024 season.
“The second I got the email that the season was canceled, I was definitely upset, but I didn’t see it as a closed door, I knew this was an opportunity to expand the program,” Boxenbaum said.
The disappointment in participants was contagious, and felt by the commissioner himself.
“At Parks and Rec, cancellation is always a last resort, which is why we took so long to notify participants of the change,” Robbins said. “Despite that, we were always looking for an alternate plan to salvage cornhole because we knew the program had such loyalty, but we weren’t ready to announce it yet.”
Though it has not yet been formally announced, Parks and Rec plans to revive the program and prepare for it to start in July as a six week season rather than seven weeks, and follow a bracket-style tournament for the entirety of the season, rather than for the final week of the program.
“While I usually look forward to the first few weeks of cornhole to get warmed up, I am excited to get right to the tournament,” three-year participant Melinda Wasserman said. “We lost last year, but I’m feeling better than ever, and I’m excited for everyone to get back together.”
