Up in Scotland, there was another big weekend of tungsten action, where the kids proved they are far more adept with a set of arrows than their compatriots are with a football.
Sorry, Tartan Army! Had to get that one in. You know England and Scotland exchange footy banter. Better luck in four years. If they increase the group to four nations, you should get out of it!
Right, onto the Development Tour action in a proud darting nation that has produced multiple world champions. Aside from those who were in action at the WDF Europe Youth Cup over in Ireland last weekend, it wouldn’t surprise me if any of the names below were destined for stardom.
BOYS: DEVELOPMENT TOUR NORTH
Event 1 – Liam O’Reilly
Event 2 – Blair Brooks
Event 3 – Blair Brooks
Event 4 – Adam Craik
BOYS: DEVELOPMENT TOUR SOUTH
Event 1 – Lyle Ross
Event 2 – Robert Sutherland
Event 3 – Robert Sutherland
Event 4 – Alfie Louden
GIRLS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS
Event 1 – Ivy Bradford-Shaw
Event 2 – Aiyleigh Duffy
Event 3 – Brooke Harvey
Event 4 – Aiyleigh Duffy
I have to admit, I wasn’t sure where in Scotland these events were staged. “North” and “South” Scotland is fairly ambiguous, and I didn’t fancy guessing somewhere between Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Shetlands. So I asked Craig Mitchell, who is to youth darts up there what wasps are to people trying to enjoy a summer barbecue.
Oh, hang on. Craig just pinged me back to say the North venue was Legends Sports Bar in Aberdeen, while the South was Bullseye Sports Bar in Greenock. Nice one, mate. Ta.
These young whipper-snappers may be spanking adults on the oche, but they aren’t household names just yet with Wikipedia pages. So, some digging was required.
The Boys Development Tour North curtain-raiser was won by Liam O’Reilly, who hails from Aberdeen but seemingly supports Liverpool. Good lad! I applaud you. Now, I know from personal experience that the Granite City is pretty far north in Scotland. I was still stunned and somewhat perplexed when I realised it was another three-hour drive from Glasgow Airport.
Liam enjoys a Vault event, by all accounts, and I suspect he’s claimed quite a few of them. However, the kid has picked a dreadful time to have a birthday – 2nd January. Okay, not entirely his fault. It’s not until Burns Night that most Scots get over their Hogmanay hangovers. Still, not something he has to worry about just yet. Give it time, lad!
Young Blair Brooks picked up two of the four North titles. I discovered Blair plays out of the Ellon Darts Academy, which is also in Aberdeenshire. So, unless his parents absolutely love driving, I’m guessing he’s from around there. Probably Ellon itself.
Rounding off the winners in the North was Adam Craik, who turned 15 in March. I then had to endure the Mastercaller website asking if I wanted to sign up for a Coral betting account. No thanks. I eventually discovered this teenager was part of Scotland’s victorious WDF Europe Youth Cup team last year and also has a Gibraltar Singles title to his name, which he won the year before.
Down in Scotland South, I went digging again on the three winners there, starting with double champion Robert Sutherland.
This lad is from Fife, which is more central and a little further east than simply labelling it “South”. Clearly, though, he picked the right events because things worked out rather well. At 17, Sutherland is in the dying embers of his JDC career and seemingly ending it in style.
Robert was the metaphorical filling in the champions’ sandwich, winning both the second and third events. Providing the proverbial bread was Lyle Ross.
One year younger than, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say, his mate Sutherland, Lyle began the weekend in dominant fashion by claiming the opening event. He is from Kilmarnock, which, had I not collected Panini football stickers as a kid, I’d probably never have heard of until much later in life. He’s a member of the East Ayrshire town’s academy and is nicknamed The Crocodile, for reasons I look forward to discovering.
That said, I’d always suggest to a young player looking for a darting moniker that, if you’re going down the animal route, make it something hard. In other words, not a ferret.
Finally, Alfie Louden grabbed the last event win of the two-day meeting. This cheeky-looking young chappie is from Carlisle, which I know is in Cumbria. I don’t know his family history, but I do know he proudly represents Scotland.
Alfie is another who loves a spot of Vault duty. We also share two mutual friends in Justin Hewitt, of Gibraltar World Cup of Darts fame, and, rather randomly, African sensation David Munyua. Quite the varied spread there.
Now onto the girls, which also produced three champions thanks to Aiyleigh Duffy grabbing a brace. So, we’ll start with her. Described as a consistent performer on the circuit, two titles over the weekend certainly back that up. Aiyleigh is only 12, so she clearly has a very bright future ahead of her. She hails from Port Glasgow, which doesn’t take much imagination to work out where it is.
The first winner of the Girls National Championship Qualifiers was Ivy Bradford-Shaw. Ivy is based in Nottingham and travelled all the way up to Scotland. Well, I say drove – it’s unlikely she did. She came away with a lovely medal, though, which makes it all worthwhile. Well done, you.
Last, but by no means least, was Brooke Harvey, who is 14 years old and doesn’t live in Nottingham or anywhere that’s going to cost her folks more than one tank of diesel to reach Scotland. I know this because her darting profile says she’s from Cowdenbeath, which, if memory serves, is in East Fife.
So, huge congratulations to all the winners, as well as every youngster who took part. Everyone knows about Mitchell Lawrie and Owen Bryceland, but it seems Scotland is like a conveyor belt for producing outstanding young darting talent.
Just a pity they can’t do the same when it comes to footballers!
