Cannon Hatcher | Behind the Badge

By: Greg Rush

A: I don’t have a nickname just yet. The name Cannon came from my great-grandfather, who had the same name.

A: I am originally from Memphis, TN, and moved to Goldonna, LA, just over two years ago. I chose Northwestern State because it was close, allowing me to commute to school from home.

A: Theta Chi has brought me support and optimism to look forward to through every high and low moment. Even with members of the Fraternity knowing close to nothing about the sport, they still do everything they can to push me to be the best person I can be both on and off the boards.

A: The ideal of Theta Chi that resonates the most with me is providing an Assisting Hand to others. I am an advocate of mental health awareness, and I’ve made sure to help and support others anytime I’m able.

A: I started playing when I was 13, so it’s been a little over five years now. The first tournament I can remember was at an old high school gym, and I played in four different events and won about five games total. My first big tournament was not much better. It took a lot of time for me to compete at the level I can now.

A: I wasn’t naturally good at cornhole. I’ve been competing in events for nearly five years. After my first time playing in a tournament, I found my love for the game and quit a bowling league I was in to pursue the American Cornhole Organization (ACO), American Cornhole League (ACL), and Texas Cornhole League (TCL). These are the major organizations that run events like ACO’s Majors, ACL’s Nationals (including college championships), and TCL’s Signature Series. It took years of playing to get my first-ever professional contract, which I turned down to pursue playing collegiate cornhole.

A: The community was and still is the best thing about cornhole. While everyone is competitive and wants to win, the majority of them are just regular people having fun. The humble and supportive nature of the community is the biggest factor that inspired me to quit bowling.

A: I played in the high school national tournament my freshman year, and that is when we first learned about collegiate cornhole. Ever since then, playing for college was what I had planned. Collegiate-level cornhole is not incredibly huge, but it has grown over the years. The college nationals (where I finished 2nd overall) had 118 total players. About two years ago, a student team got the first-ever $20,000 scholarship to play cornhole for a college team. Pro cornhole is still a sport that needs growth to be comparable to the NBA or NFL. The top players make their money and can pursue cornhole as their main source of income, while most professionals still have to work a job to fund their lifestyle. The most common job I hear cornhole pros have is teaching.

A: I used to throw nearly every day. Thinking about practice and all the rounds I’ve played, it’s easy to say I’ve probably thrown over 100,000 bags, maybe even closer to 200,000. There’s not really a routine to practice; it’s a game like darts or bowling. Players constantly have to work on their consistency to perform at a high level. Our field of players has gotten so tough and talented that you could be playing for as long as an hour just to score 21 points. It’s a big endurance game that values consistency, and, over the years, I’ve built my muscle memory to provide just that.

A: That depends. In tournaments, you play multiple events: singles (just you), doubles (with a partner), and blind draw (you with a randomly selected partner). There are some different formats as well, but these are usually the most common. My sponsors (to use NOLA Bags as the example) could be seen as me being “Team NOLA,” but that is not something people in the sport particularly say. It is more of “I throw NOLA Bags,” but it is never defined as a team. As far as a club team, I am actively working on creating a club at NSU, which will hopefully be starting later this spring.

A: People believe that cornhole is not “big” or it’s not a “real sport,” when in reality, there are people who make their living from cornhole. People who play enjoy it and value competition, ranging from backyard players all the way to the professional level. It’s actually a big sport when you get to see it from the inside, currently having 400,000+ accounts on Scoreholio (an app used primarily by ACO, TCL, and recreational players) and 17,000 on the ACL (the most competitive organization for cornhole).

A: Cornhole can be found anywhere on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, etc. Facebook is the most prominent place to find organizations and find their websites from there. For brothers who want to get into playing competitively, the best thing to do is download Scoreholio off the App Store and make an account. It can show you when and where to play and help to get yourself involved with communities of players within your region. If you’re focused on only spectating the sport, I normally go live on Facebook for big events and post on my Instagram and TikTok, featuring clips, trick shots, and tips.

A: I want to become the third consecutive state champion in Louisiana–I’ve won our state championship the previous two years back-to-back, and want to go for a third. I hope to compete in Myrtle Beach for the ACL College Nationals on New Year’s and become a College National Champion (This previous year, I placed second).