Spring 2009 - Chris Moss

Remembering back to when my dad showed me his vintage dart shirts, [this] is where my interest really peaked. From then, I threw a few times with my family before my dad joined forces with Cathy Janes to begin the Calgary Youth Dart League.
I started training no less than two to three hours nightly with the hope of sometime attaining a place on the Alberta Provincial team.

With consistent practice, training and several tournaments, I placed first at the 2004 Alberta Youth Provincials—only two years later. That year at Nationals, I was part of Team Alberta, [whom] won the Nodor Cup. Since then I have represented Alberta at the Youth Nationals four of five years. I shot my first 180 at the age of nine while attending my first provincial tournament. Since then, I believe I have shot 40+ perfect shots but have recently lost count.

I was the Alberta Champion in 2004, 2005 and 2008 and the Runner-up in 2007. I placed first in the NDFC Bursary Shoot as well in the Junior Male doubles at the 2008 Youth Nationals. I am also the first Alberta Junior Male representative in Alberta’s history to hold a Champion title for two years consecutively.

I recently participated at the adult level in the Stampede Open Blind Draw Doubles, and [got] paired with Nathan Poore of Calgary to win first place.

This year will be my first year as a Senior Male. I am looking forward to playing the rest of the Senior Males in the upcoming seasons and also looking forward to obtaining future titles
- Chris

Hi I am Chad McIsaac (left).

It all started when I was younger, watching mom and dad throw darts and seeing how much fun they would have. I remember going to the Ponoka Coke Shoot with my parents and just watching what was going on, it just seemed to interest me. We would go home and I remember asking my mom can we go downstairs and play darts for a while. I could barely hit the board but it was still fun.

My brother and I started throwing darts every once in a while for the next couple of years. My mom approached us one night and asked if we would like to join the Central Alberta Youth Dart League in Red Deer. I was totally up for playing; I looked forward to every Sunday when it was time to go into Red Deer to play. While playing in Red Deer we had four sections, fortunately for me I was one of the top players and Steve Kenney was my coach. Now all the coaching and skills my mom gave me was taken to a whole new level, Steve began to teach us tournament play and all of a sudden the game of darts was a brand new game for me. 

At that time my brother and I started playing in the local Ponoka shoots that we had watched mom and dad play in and thanks to Dianne Greening and Darts Alberta, youth are now able to compete in the adult ranked tournaments as well. Darts Alberta hosted its first ever senior 55+ youth tournament in Calgary in April 2007 I was partnered with Art Banks from Calgary and we took first place. I am an avid player and have never missed a youth tournament and have been trying to take in the adult ones too.

I have played provincials for the past four years coming in at least in the top ten every year but this past year I finally made team Alberta with a first place finish. All my hard work finally paid off. In May of 2007 I went to Lachine, Quebec to compete against the rest of the country in hope that our team would bring home gold. Not only was this my first trip to nationals but it was also the first time Alberta won gold in youth darts. 
I am looking forward to Provincials at the end of February (Editor’s note: Chad placed 5th in Senior Male competition last month at the Youth Provincial Championships) and this will be my first year as a senior, and all I can say to that is look out boys I am ready. HAHA!!!

Hi I am Matthew McIsaac (right) and I am in my fifth year of playing darts.

It all started when my brother and I were down stairs fooling around with his darts. Mom grounded us from the dartboard for a while, but it was hard to stay away. Then one day my mom and Steve Kenney, who have been our coaches, came to my brother and me and asked if we would like to join the Central Alberta Youth Dart League. Of course we said yes. They doubted that I would take the game serious and thought that I would soon lose interest because normally I go for more physical sports, such as volleyball. Being ranked as number one for senior boys in Alberta, I think I proved them wrong. 

I remember two years ago going to the Klondike with my mom and Steve and sitting outside the room, watching all the great dart players. I even got to play a game against Gerry Convery that weekend. I have been to many dart tournaments, over this past year, both youth and adult: each one being more beneficial than the previous. 

I have competed at the Alberta provincials for four years and this past year I placed second, earning a berth on the Alberta Team. The first three years I was close, but you know the saying “Close is only good in horseshoes and hand grenades.” In making the Alberta Team I also got to go to Quebec in May. This was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I met many new people and made some lifelong friends I am sure. It was an awesome feeling knowing that not only was it my first time on Team Alberta, but I was part of Alberta bringing home its first gold medal in the history of youth darts (Editor’s note: Matthew placed 2nd in Senior Male competition last month at the Youth Provincial Championships and earned a place on Team Alberta). 

This is my second year as a senior and I realize there is tough competition both at the youth level and definitely the adult level. With my recent experience shooting in the adult tournaments and playing against guys like Rory Orvis and Ken MacNeil, I have a new appreciation for what I have to face in the upcoming years. I know I still have a lot to learn, but what better way to do it then play against these guys who have given the game of darts the prestige it deserves.

September 2006 - Vanessa Janes

The skill difference from youth to adults is quite a jump. I was very excited to be able to watch the top players in Alberta play off. I was able to find partners for all the events quite easily, but playing my best darts proved to be a challenge. I played fairly well in a few of the events, sometimes I even surprised myself. It was all quite an experience, I learned the things I need to improve upon and even went home still wanting to practice.

Going forward, I am looking forward to playing the Klondike Open in Edmonton next month and starting off the new youth season. I would like to thank Darts Alberta for supporting me and all the youth players in the province. 
- Vanessa

For more information regarding Youth Darts in Alberta, please contact DA Youth Director (youth@dartsalberta.com).

 - last updated Dec 8, 2009