Academy darts players are dancing to the Samba beat

Founder Ashley Causer says the academy gives children a chance to ‘to mingle with other kids, to be part of the community’, having grown from six regular attendees in October to almost 50 training weekly now.

As part of the deal with Target Darts, two children will have a shot at a one-year contract each season, alongside coaching from a team including ex-PDC player Scott Baker.

Causer said: “It does give them a headstart and that's what, originally, when I set up the academy, it was to help kids. I know darts was big anyway, in the area, but it just gives the kids that opportunity to get out, to mingle with other kids, to be part of a community. 

“There are kids down there now that used to sit in the house and play on their Xbox, and even their moms and dads are saying they’ve seen the difference in the kids. 

“They've got something to look forward to and it's given them that opportunity to get out and integrate with other kids. And it's a great vibe down there.

“So, what we do: is when the kids come in, even if they don't know and are brand new to darts, we've got Scott Baker, who’s an ex-PDC player, who's still on the circuit. He plays a lot of big events, and he was at the UK Open down in Butlin’s. 

“He qualified for that, so obviously, having Scott’s experience from that side of it, and then obviously I've got Carlton who helps out as well. His lad plays in other tournaments, so he's got experience with it as well. 

“So, as a collective, we've got a good team that we can kind of, you know, help the kids and kind of point them in the right direction with what they should be doing. 

“Obviously, we've got small boards, so for the little ones, they don't throw on full-height boards, they throw on smaller-height boards. It just obviously gives them the opportunity to learn the techniques properly, 

“And then obviously from there we can, as they grow older and stronger and get the experience, we can push them onto the big boards. 

“We're already doing that with some of them. We've already said to some of the kids now that they need to come off the little boards and start throwing on the big boards, right, the full-height boards.”

He’s not only keen on using darts to help kids locally, but is also starting a free-to-attend over-50s class. “I think there's a lot of people out there who are retired. They've really got no hobbies or they've got no money to go out and do anything.

“They might want to just socialise with people. So, it's more of an opportunity for people to come down and just have a game of darts, have a few hours, have a chit chat, have a coffee and give them something to you know to look forward to as well. 

“My nan suffers with dementia and I know what sitting in the house does too you. It’s kind of, that's the root of all evil really. 

“If you've got the same thing every day, your brain is not functioning right. So just giving the older people over 50 and the older ones an opportunity to get out the house and integrate and mix with people and just kind of keep that brain ticking over.”

Causer himself has seen his darts skills improving since opening the academy, adding: “To be honest, I've only ever really played with friends and just down in the pub and stuff like that.

“I've just started to get into it properly, so even me as a player myself, I'm starting to get better and my average is starting to climb, because I'm in that environment and I'm starting to get better as a player.”