ACL partners with Level Up Cornhole to expand player development

The American Cornhole League deepened its push into formal player development on June 2 when it named Level Up Cornhole its official training partner, bringing a player-founded coaching platform into the league’s growing infrastructure. For a sport that has moved from backyard pastime to televised competition with pro rankings and a full tournament calendar, the partnership marked another step toward treating coaching, video review and mental training as standard parts of the game.

ACL Commissioner and CEO Stacey Moore has long framed entrepreneurial players as a strength of the sport, and this deal fit that vision. Level Up was founded by Gavin Hamann, a player who says he has competed for more than five years and worked his way through every division from Intermediate to Pro. He also said he captained a Division I college cornhole team and coached dozens of players one-on-one, giving the partnership immediate credibility with both competitive players and younger athletes trying to climb.

The league’s own training arm already shows how serious that climb has become. ACL Academy describes itself as the official player development platform of the American Cornhole League and sells training at three levels: ACL Foundations, which is free, ACL Training Club at $29 per month, and ACL Performance Lab at $79 per month. The higher tiers include monthly live sessions with ACL pros, mindset coaching from Dr. Michelle Thompson, replay libraries and personalized video feedback, a structure that looks less like a hobby page and more like a modern sports department.

That ecosystem is already tied to recognizable names in the game. ACL Academy’s materials list Ethan Walker, AJ Sims, Matt Wilson, Spencer Fabionar and Dave Morse among the pros involved in its training setup, underscoring how the league is packaging expertise around instruction as well as competition. Level Up’s own pitch follows the same logic: better mechanics, smarter preparation and more confidence for players trying to move faster through the ranks.

Hamann’s profile also carries unusual weight in cornhole’s college pipeline. In February 2024, he and Jaxson Remmick were described as the first Division I cornhole players at Winthrop University, and both were identified as two-time ACL high school national champions. That path mirrors the sport’s broader shift in Rock Hill, South Carolina, where the ACL is based and where it lists its 2026 World Championships, its pro singles and doubles standings, and a wider tournament schedule. The message is clear: development is no longer an afterthought in cornhole. It is becoming part of the business model.