Mike Richardson is targeting Innisfil’s best dart players.
The town resident and member of the Royal Canadian Legion branch 547 executive is one of the organizers of a new mixed-doubles competitive dart league landing at the Belle Ewart facility this month. It’ll run from 7 to 10 p.m. on Thursdays between Nov. 7 and Dec. 19.
“As long as this trial period goes well, we’re going to be continuing this league from January to April,” he said. “I feel like I’m starting to outgrow some of the more fun house leagues. I want to play against players who are good dart shooters. That’s going to help up my game as well. We want it to be competitive, but we also want it to be fun. There’s a lot of dart players in this area.”
The branch has 13 boards and Richardson hopes about 50 players sign up for the trial.
Right now, good shooters have to drive into Barrie, Bradford or the surrounding area to find top-flight leagues, he said.
There are a couple goals here. The first is to get to the point where the branch is able to enter multiple teams into legion zone tournaments.
And the money collected from players will be used for league operation, to upgrade boards, lighting and other dart equipment at the branch, and help the facility meet necessary accessibility requirements.
“I’ve been there when people who need accessibility, we’ve literally carried them up the stairs into the clubhouse,” he said. “We really want to make sure this league takes off. I want this to make money for the legion. We see a need, we fill a need.”
Richardson started playing darts at a young age during family functions. These days, he loves the camaraderie of the game and meeting new people.
“We’d all get together at my aunt’s house, go into the basement and just play darts,” he said. “I’ve always enjoyed playing. It wasn’t until I moved up here that we found out about leagues in the area. We went to check them out and ended up joining. I’ve met so many people that I would consider friends.”
To prepare for this new challenge, Richardson says he’s thrown about “a thousand” darts on a board in his basement over the last week.
“I want to be better,” he said, grinning.
The legion also offers a variety of other programs. There’s open nights for newer players each Wednesday (sign-up begins at 6:30 p.m.), and a dart program for teenagers on some Sunday afternoons (admission is free with a food bank donation). Progressive euchre also runs Fridays from 1 to 4 p.m.
And the annual poppy fundraiser is currently underway.
“If I were to suggest anything to someone, buy a poppy," Richardson said. "That helps all the legions across the country phenomenally. It supports veterans.”
For more information on upcoming events, visit the branch’s Facebook page.
Admission into the competitive dart league is $40 and that covers seven nights of play. To register, email [email protected].
