Lauren Ondeck: Pottsville native turned ACL pro
· Yahoo Sports
Lauren Ondeck, also known as “Cornhole Barbie,” is a professional cornhole player for the American Cornhole League. A Pottsville native, Ondeck shared her journey to the league after reaching pro status in August.
Ondeck grew up on Mahantongo Street and is a 2010 graduate of Pottsville Area High School. Growing up in a family of business owners, she started working at the age of 12, helping out at Christy Joy Catering Services. Her family also owns Ondeck Concrete, and her sister, Anna, owns Restoration Haus in Orwigsburg.
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She moved to Florida in 2016, but later came back to Pennsylvania to earn a dental assisting certification from YTI Career Institute.
She returned to Florida in 2021 and currently resides in Fort Lauderdale.
Discovering the game
Ondeck played horseshoes in her backyard when she was young, but had no idea what cornhole was until she discovered it at a sports bar in Florida in 2019. There was an ongoing tournament outside, and her competitive spirit prompted her to give it a try.
“My friend and I got out right away,” Ondeck said. “When I threw the bag, I couldn’t even get it near the hole, but everyone was so nice and welcoming, and told me it takes time.” After that night, she kept going back on Thursdays and eventually began playing seven days a week.
When Ondeck moved back to Pennsylvania, cornhole followed her. “When I moved back home to study for dental, I found areas in Lancaster to compete. I kept earning points and building my profile,” she said.
A budding career
Ondeck began traveling extensively in 2024, competing in open, regional and statewide tournaments. She was at the World Championship Tour last August, where a qualifier was held to become a pro. She first tried out for the Top 100, playing rounders in a single-elimination style of play.
Ondeck came up short of making the Top 100 team, but that didn’t deter her from her goal.
“The next day, they held the pro women’s competition, and I qualified,” she said
Becoming a pro was a special moment for Ondeck. She was recovering from an injury that required surgery.
“Overcoming everything and going after something I’ve wanted for a few years was a crazy, cool feeling,” she said.
After qualifying, Ondeck began to find her sponsors. Her official pro jersey features a collaboration with Bush’s Beans, the official sponsor of the ACL. She also secured backing from Texas-based bag company BG Cornhole and Michigan apparel brand CaddySack Cornhole, Speakeasy Cornhole (a popular organization in the cornhole community), Cali Hair in West Palm Beach, and Level Them Up Cornhole, a company that creates specialized board levelers.
“This is my first year as a pro, so everything is super new at this level,” she said. “My playing strategy is shoot for the hole and just play hole to hole, or if it’s a messy game, focus on blocking and an airmail shoot-off,” she added.
From roll bags to cut shots, Ondeck approaches each competition with different strategies, whether she’s facing a top 10 player or any other pro.
“Anybody can play, and anybody can win,” she said. “There are different levels of rankings, such as top women, state and open competitors. It’s based on how much you travel and how many events you compete in to gain your points.”
At the beginning of the season, Ondeck was able to travel more, ranking 24th among the top female competitors. Due to transferring into a new company for work, she hasn’t been able to travel as much as she’d like, but she has high hopes for the future. Ondeck currently sits at 97th out of 419 players in the state, is ranked 100th out of 232 women in the opens, and is 56th in the pro rankings.
Looking to the future
“With my work schedule, I went from practicing three to four times a week for three hours, to two days a week for an hour,” Ondeck said. “But it’s kind of like picking up a bike, you show up and remember the motions.”
Ondeck is eager to dedicate more time to cornhole in the upcoming year.
Outside of cornhole, Ondeck is a dog mom to two toy Australian shepherds.
She also works full-time for Oceana Coffee Company, where she is a territory marketing manager.
“My goal is to close deals with this company so I can travel full-time next year,” she said.
Coming off a regional win in April in doubles competition, Ondeck headed to the state championships in Orlando and competed in eight events. She finished second out of 160 competitors in singles competition, winning her division but falling just short of a state title.
This fall, she will compete at the ACL World Championships in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
“I really love playing and the whole community,” she said. “It feels like one big family.”