Craig Mitchell is a man on a mission – to make sure every youngster in Scotland who wants to play darts has access to the sport.
Already having to rethink his five-year plan for junior darts in Scotland – because they were ahead of schedule within a year – the head of JDC Scotland is looking to expand darts’ footprint into untapped areas.
With 235 players registered to 16 active academies – and more on the way – Mitchell still sees plenty of potential to grow the game in Scotland.
“There’s still a massive part of Scotland untouched – Edinburgh, Inverness, Aberdeen,” he said. “There is so much potential out there still to get bigger and bigger. We definitely won’t settle for what we’ve got.”
The moment that made many within junior darts take notice of the progress being made in Scotland came in Gibraltar at the end of 2023, when Scotland A shocked the world by winning the World Cup.
Their team of Logan Gilmour, Kyle Davidson, Sophie McKinlay and Mitchell Lawrie beat Ireland B 4-0 in the final to spark wild celebrations that made headlines in Scotland and grabbed the attention of PDC professionals including Cameron Menzies.
“We knew there was a bit of talent in Scotland, it was just a case of getting them playing more regular darts, playing in more big competitions,” said Mitchell.
“I always felt the potential was there with the players we had – but to do it that quickly was an unbelievable achievement.
“We got knocked out in the quarter-finals last year, so it shows how far we’ve come that that was a big disappointment. When you win something as big as that, you just want more.”
While victory over Ireland sealed the title and provided the viral moment as Scotland’s joyous players celebrated, the fact they beat an England team containing Luke Littler in the semi-final will always be remembered by those involved.
“We didn’t realise at the time just how big a thing it was to beat a team with Luke in it,” said Mitchell. “Within a month or so, he went on to reach the world final. Thomas Banks was also in that team, and he played Gerwyn Price on TV at the UK Open. They had a really good team, so beating them was a huge achievement.
“My son Aaron helps me to run stuff and we did say as we were leaving, ‘we could actually win this’. No one was expecting us to, but we knew that if all four players performed as we knew they could, we had a chance of winning it. I don’t think anyone else believed it at the start – but we knew the ability that was there and thankfully they all did perform on the day.”
In terms of the future, the goals for Scottish junior darts are always changing – in part thanks to that success in Gibraltar in 2023.
“When we first started, we had an aim – it was 150 kids playing and to win the World Cup,” said Mitchell. “That was a five-year plan. Then we went and won the World Cup in the first year of that plan and we already have nearly 250 kids playing!
“So, we’re absolutely miles ahead of where we expected to be in Scotland, so it’s just a case of keeping going. We’re very lucky, we’ve got a lot of volunteers – these are the people who give up their time every week to run their local darts academies. More and more of them are getting on board, so it means we can open more and more academies.”
As for what is next, the plan is to continue providing opportunities for young people to play darts – whether their aim is becoming a professional or simply throwing a few arrows once a week.
“My friends Scott and Rosalyn Williamson have run North Ayrshire Darts Academy for the last 10 years – and, without them taking the jump to become a JDC academy, the academy system in Scotland would never have happened,” said Mitchell. “Rosalyn was a massive part of things behind the scenes, giving me advice and help, as I’d never actually ran an academy myself.
“By them taking the leap, it allowed us to start building what we now have – and the aim is to have darts available to every kid in Scotland.
“The important thing is that darts is open to all kids – whether they are a World Cup winner or someone who just wants to throw a few darts once a week. And, if the ones who go along and throw once a week get the bug for it, then great.”
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