This year’s Flames on the Flint BBQ Cook Off just got a little bit bigger.

In addition to the main competition March 11-12 in Bainbridge, there will be a backyard division with its own winners for local teams to enter into. Teams don’t have to be certified by the Kansas City Barbecue Society, but certified KCBS judges will judge their barbecue.

“It will be judged just as the other ones, with the same judges,” said Flames on the Flint organizer Ronnie Godwin. “They will follow all the KCBS guidelines.”

Godwin said he hoped the backyard competition would encourage locals to join the event who might be too intimated to compete in the main cook off.

Categories for the backyard competition are chicken, pork butt and ribs. Each category will have a winner, with an overall winner named at the end. Teams who enter will set up their equipment in the middle of the action by the Flint River with the other professional teams.

“This is just a great opportunity for local people, or somebody that might be interested in breaking into the barbecue world, to try their hand at professional barbecue without having to be KCBS certified,” said Adrienne Harrison, president of the Bainbridge-Decatur County Chamber of Commerce.

Interested teams can visit flamesontheflint.com and download a registration form. The entry fee is $250.

The third annual Flames on the Flint BBQ Cook Off will be one of the biggest barbecue competitions in the Southeast this year, featuring a $50,000 purse and professional teams from across the country.