JUST like many sports in Australia there have been some dark days for darts Down Under since the world was sent spiralling out of control thanks to the COVID 19 pandemic.
Darts Players Australia chief executive Rob Denny sees light at the end of the tunnel but admits the journey could be long and tough as darts looks to re-establish itself as one of the most popular sports in this country.
“Obviously in lockdown we were restricted,” Denny said.
“The biggest challenge we had were the return to sport plans and all the paperwork that went with that.
“That was particularly challenging for our team because the social distancing measures venues had in place made it difficult to fill up a room with dart players and that was really restricting us with numbers and therefore being able to put events on.
“We are only really coming out of that situation this year.”
One of the measures the DPA decided to take was the abandonment of the Australian Pro Tour because of problems getting players to interstate tournaments.
The Satellite Tour was brought in to allow players from the likes of Queensland and NSW to compete in tournaments which didn’t necessitate travel across borders.
While he said that was good to get players back on the oche, Denny said that also meant the standard of play was reduced.
“We are in a good position, but we don’t want to get confident just yet going into our winter,” he said.
“We have created the travel bubble that allow players in Queensland to compete in Brisbane, the NSW players can compete in Warilla and the Victorians compete in Morwell.
“The reason why we chose to do this was some border closures were going to put restrictions on us, which is why the Pro Tour had to be abolished this year with Victorians unable to compete in Queensland and vice-versa.
“This model worked, and I think you will find we will keep it in place for the next year until we can get back to the old model.
“But the standard is much lower and that means our better players are not getting high-standard match practice.
“We do have players in this country who are capable of being world class and we have to keep searching for ways to keep raising the standards.”
While Denny admitted it would be tough to do, he said plans were in place to get darts back to the place it was before the pandemic, but he said it would take a big rethink.
“Darts in Australia is going to need a total rebuild,” Denny said.
“We are redeveloping the junior dart corporation concept in Australia for six to 17-year-olds and putting an emphasis on that.
“We are going to be rolling out academies in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide and we will be inviting all young kids to have a go.
“Coaches will have the proper accreditation from the PDC and working with children safety checks. We will then have all the infrastructure in place to rebuild darts which will hopefully have us in good stead for the next five to 10 years.”
Since the introduction of the Professional Darts Corporation in 1992, Australia has always had a decent spattering of world class players on the pro tour,
with former world championship finalist Simon Whitlock, Kyle Anderson, and Paul Nicholson leading the way.
Damon Heta and Gordon Mathers are the latest to add to that list, both getting through the PDC qualifying school in the past two years to earn places on the tour.
Heta has risen to 45 on the current order of merit list after a string of strong performances at floor tournaments, but Denny said Mathers, who recently set up base in the south of England with his wife and four children, will have to do it tough to establish himself on the tour.
But he said the man nicknamed GG had it in him to prove his worth as many have done before him from this country.
“Australia still seems to be leading the way for developing countries regarding its depth of players,” Denny said.
“We can put that down to the fact that we had a very strong professional tour in Australia and our players are built tough.
“I played juniors with GG, and I have known him since he was 12
“I know the product we have in place has made him mentally strong enough to get through Q School and Damon was the same.
“Simon’s struggling a little now, but he is most likely going to be in higher echelons of the top 32 players in the world until he retires.
“But we need younger players coming through. GG will find it a little difficult to begin but he has a two-year card and he will settle in nicely
“The biggest problem in the UK and Europe is the lack of events on now, so that will make it tougher for him to climb the rankings.
“We have always had three there, whether it was a combination of Kyle, Simon or Corey Cadby or like now Simon, Damon and GG, we are in a lot better position than the likes of Devon Peterson from South Africa who is the only player flying that flag on the PDC Tour.”
While Denny said having the professionals flying the flag for Australia was important, it was also key to the future of the game Down Under that try to get the World Series of Darts back as soon as is feasibly possible.
“The goal of Dart Players Australia has always been to put Aussie players on television,” Denny said.
“If that is the goal for every Australian player to do that, then the first thing I would say to them is you need to be accomplished in the World Series.
“If you can’t do that then you will struggle on stage at Alexandra Palace in front of 6000 people.
“The experience the players get in the World Series has been invaluable, so not to have it here for the past two years has hurt us.
“In July and August, we should have been hosting the best players in the world in Woolongong, Hamilton in New Zealand and Townsville.
“Players don’t have any goals this year other than the World Championships and the fact they can’t play for the 12-16 TV spots at the World Series has hurt the players.
“While they understand the situation, it doesn’t make it any easier.
“I think realistically next year’s World Series could still be a struggle unless we can roll out the vaccines and get hotel quarantine sorted out.”
While he believed the sport could bounce back from the devastating effects of Covid 19, Denny said there was a huge amount of work to do, but he was confident the right plans were in place to have darts back where it belongs.
“We must work on player development and improving players and getting the best dart throwers in Australia competing against each other.
“An Australian Premier League is the goal. The guys here aspire to beating the best in the world and I do believe we have enough players in Australia and the depth here is enough so we can make our own TV product that is sellable to sponsors.
“If we hadn’t been hit by covid I think we could have been two thirds the way there to building that product.
“But it’s back to the drawing board, and we are now possibly three years behind in developing that.
“It has been a difficult time, but I believe we are the premier organisation for darts in Australia and we can provide all players with the opportunities to play in the best events, but we need to re-establish the Pro Tour so our best players from interstate can play against each other
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