Throwback Thursday: Backyard Games Day 2017

Last week, we announced that the 4th annual Arizona State Cornhole Championships would be July 26-27, 2019 (arizonastatecornholechampionships.com) at Ability360 Sports and Fitness. As we end 2018 and begin to prepare for next year's championships, this got me thinking about the our 2nd State Championships at Westworld in the summer of 2017. That tournament was part of a larger event, Backyard Games Day, which included over 50 vendors, inflatable bounce houses and obstacle courses, a 30' climbing wall, pet adoptions and of course, the 2017 Arizona State Cornhole Championships.

What many people did not know or realize was that the entire Backyard Games Day festival, not just the cornhole tournament, was planned and organized by us, KB Kornhole Games. While we are not eager try to plan an entire festival again, the experience of coordinating all aspects of a large scale event like BGD gave us a lot of confidence as we continued to build KB Kornhole Games into the premiere cornhole group in the country.

Backyard Games Day was an amazing overall experience. From a planning perspective, we learned (sometimes the hard way) all about the numerous things one has to take into consideration when planning an event of this size (staffing, electrical needs, insurance, TV/marketing campaigns, and all of the other odds and ends) and we were glad to see that over 1,200 people walked through the doors to attend our event. We also found out that Erin is a star on camera!

From a community perspective, we felt our reach was even greater! We were able to partner with the Scottsdale Firefighters Charities as they sponsored 200 children and adults to attend the event as part of their 12 Months of Caring program. We also donated space to several local non-profit dog rescues so that they could bring in their foster dogs in hopes that the pups would find forever homes with the event patrons. We were ecstatic when we learned that over 10 dogs were adopted at our event. One of the dog rescue workers even started to cry when talking to Erin at the end of the event because she was able to adopt out several of her rescues. These types of stories are what made this event such a success in our eyes.

While this event feels like it was so long ago yet still so fresh in our memories, it is something we come back to often when reflecting on where we have been and where we plan to go in the upcoming months and years! We're so happy and grateful for everyone who attended the event that day and for those who have joined us at our events before and since Backyard Games Day 2017! Here's to an exciting 2019! We look forward to seeing you at Ability360 on July 26-27.

Take a look at our Facebook Photo Album of Backyard Games Day 2017.