In 2020, like many others around the world, Tony Forbes found himself doing… nothing.

The Covid-19 pandemic shut the world down and debilitated millions of people’s lives as extroverts. The same went for Forbes, who had already transitioned to school online, and baseball had come to a screeching halt. Tony was looking for anything to keep him occupied. That was until one day when he was flipping through TV channels. 

Forbes stumbled across ESPN one afternoon and was stunned to see live cornhole being played on national television. The man who was on the screen and caught his eye? Former ACL Pro Alan “Rocky” Rockwell. From there the rest is history. 

When the lockdown was over and Forbes’ first passion, baseball, started back up, he found out his coach was running local tournaments close to his house. While he did not win right away, he quickly fell in love with the game and became the player we all know and love today.

Fast forward to today, Forbes found himself on a National TV broadcast for cornhole, a stage he has become all too familiar with over the past several years. Tony was able to defeat eventual Pro Singles winner Gabriel Clauson to claim a Junior Singles Title in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at the Miller’s Ale House Signature #1. 

Forbes has an extensive television resume, which includes a Pro Shootout Doubles title with Quinn Reeves, an appearance at the finals of Spencer Makenzie’s the Throwdown, and multiple ACL Teams broadcasts. When asked how he felt going into the Junior Singles title game, Forbes noted that there were no nerves and his confidence was through the roof.

“Gabe and I have always had good games,” Forbes said. “But stepping on that court, it was a weird feeling but I was so confident, I almost knew I won.”

Forbes beat Clauson 9-7 in a 12-round limited format, and threw a 10.08 PPR in those 12 rounds. 

Forbes also had the chance to play in the National High School Cornhole Championships doubles broadcast with his brother, Joey, and made an impressive run there as well. Tony mentioned they weren’t even planning on playing, but was very happy they did.

“That was probably the coolest thing that’s ever happened. I didn’t even want to win that for me.”

Forbes’ mother was in the crowd during that broadcast, and Tony said she couldn’t hold it together. 

“I looked left and she was watching, we made eye contact, and she was just bawling crying. She was so happy, that was a really cool experience.” 

Forbes is also very close to his grandfather and said he calls him almost every day, and that was the first person he talked to after the broadcast. 

That was Forbes’ last game as a high school player, and luckily for Forbes, this is his last season as a junior player, with him aging out next year. The reason Tony is so lucky is because of the changing landscape of the junior division, as only four junior players will be in the pro division next season. Tony mentioned that re-qualifying is way more stressful for them than anyone else.

“You only have so many spots, so you either have to finish in the top 32 for singles, and then doubles may be harder,” Forbes said. “And honestly if you have one or two bad tournaments, I wouldn’t say [your chances] are over, but it's very slim.”

While Forbes did not play Pro Singles at Signature #1, he did qualify for Signature’s 2, 3, 4 and 6. 

A lot of people in the cornhole world don’t realize that, outside of cornhole, these kids are exactly that: kids. They go to school, and have social groups that do not throw bags five days a week. Forbes said his friends had mixed feelings when they found out he was pretty good at cornhole.

“Half of the people thought it was stupid, and half of the people thought it was super cool,” Forbes said. “But that was really for only like the first half a year, and then they saw me on TV and realized actually this is a big deal now, and after that everyone thought it was cool. 

Tony mentioned that he has always been a social person in school, but didn’t like all of the attention at the start. Over time however, he became more and more used to the popularity and began embracing it. Even his teachers would enjoy seeing him travel and play and will make adjustments to get him his classwork when he gets back from the trips.

As Tony continues this season, he stated that he has one goal in mind: 

“To go Pro.”

In order to make that attainable, Forbes needs to perform well at the next four Signature events and finish inside the top 32 in Pro Singles standings. Forbes will be hungrier than a lot of other players in his brackets. The kid is on a mission, I don’t recommend standing in his way. 

You can check out Tony Forbes and all of the other incredible ACL Pro’s in action at ACL Signature #2 in Mesa, Arizona, May 2-4.