Darts officially recognized as a sport...
http://www.cnnsi.com/2005/more/03/25/darts.ap/
LONDON (AP) -- Darts long has been associated with smoky pubs and beer-swilling
participants, but that didn't stop Sport England from officially recognizing it
as a legitimate sport.
The decision, announced Thursday, means darts could possibly get government
funding and tax incentives.
"The presentation of darts as a pub game has helped popularize its cult appeal,
but the reality is that it is a sport played by many thousands of people across
the country in locations ranging from schools to village halls, social clubs and
sports centers," said Roger Draper, chief executive of Sport England.
The group said it considered growing levels of participation in darts and the
physical, mental and dexterity skills needed to compete successfully.
"It's the news we have been waiting for and we believe darts deserves," said
Professional Darts Corp. chairman Barry Hearn. "It's great news for our players
that they are now officially seen as proper sportsmen, which is what they
deserve for the hard work and dedication that they show week in and week out."
Organizers have been trying to clean up the game by cutting back on drinking,
and players are banned from drinking on stage at tournaments. In the future,
darts players might be limited to two pints of beer at a tournament.
Darts tournaments are widely shown on British television.
Darts wins official recognition
http://www.unicorn-darts.com/news/detail.asp?id=45
Officials at Sport England have approved the application by the British Darts
Organisation for the game to be officially recognised as a sport.
The BDO will now press other bodies to follow suit.
Roger Draper, Sport England CEO, said: "The presentation of darts as a pub game
has helped popularise its cult appeal, but the reality is that it is a sport
played by many thousands of people across the country in locations ranging from
schools to village halls, social clubs and sports centres.
"By taking the lead in recognising the skills and social and community values
associated with darts, we hope others will follow suit in the near future to
complete its formal and official recognition as a sport."
Olly Croft of the BDO said he was never in any doubt that darts was a sport.
Croft said he would be pressing sports bodies in Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland to follow England's lead.
"The BDO have always seen recognition as vitally important to the long-term
growth of darts from grass roots through to national, international, world and
professional levels."
Darts enthusiasts want the sport to be recognised as a game on a par with
Olympic sports such as archery.
http://sport.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,10488,1445410,00.html
Bull's-eye! Darts achieves sporting recognition
Paul Kelso, sports correspondent
Friday March 25, 2005
The Guardian
One-hundred and eigh-ty! Button up your XXL competition shirt and grab a
celebratory drink, darts fans - Britain's favourite pub pastime is officially a
sport.
Sport England yesterday recognised the athletic merits of Britain's 7 million
regular tungsten hurlers, putting the game on a par with Olympic sports and
opening the door for it to receive grants and public funding to foster the next
generation of players.
The decision to recognise the game as a legitimate sporting activity represents
a major victory for campaigners who have been pushing for it to be recognised
alongside archery, shooting and similar games of skill.
Tired of the stereotype of beer-swilling, overweight men staggering to the oche
and peering through a fog of tobacco to see the board, the British Darts
Organisation (BDO) launched in February a campaign to force the government to
acknowledge the skills required to regularly hit 180.
It enlisted the help of solicitors Hammonds, barrister Tom De La Mare, (given
the obligatory nickname "The Brief") and crucially Dr Peter Gregory, a leading
sports physician and medical adviser to the England and Wales Cricket Board.
The dossier compiled by the BDO, which included evidence that a darts player
walks up to 16 miles in the course of a tournament, backed by the sports
minister, Richard Caborn, appears to have swayed Sport England.
At a board meeting last week they approved recognition, and will recommend that
the sports councils of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland follow suit, paving
the way for central funding for the sport.
The decision recognises the fact that darts is changing its image.
There is no longer tobacco sponsorship in darts, the players do not drink openly
on stage any more, and while the 2004 BDO world champion, Andy Fordham, tipped
the scales at more than 30st and recently withdrew from a match because of
exhaustion, he has taken to ITV's Celebrity Fat Club to shed pounds.
Professional Martin Adams, the captain of the England team, welcomed the
decision. "I am over the moon," he said. "I always compare myself with one of
Britain's sporting greats, [shot-putter] Geoff Capes. Nowadays he would probably
be called obese, but he stood still and hurled lumps of metal. If he can be a
sporting hero, so can I."
Adams dismissed the beer and fags image. "We have loads of kids who do not drink
or smoke, and it's not as if footballers or rugby players have a clean record on
booze."
Robert Holmes of the BDO said recognition would ultimately benefit the next
generation. "The game has proved it can deliver in all sorts of areas, not least
child numeracy. We will use any funding we receive to make sure the grassroots
of the sport are nourished."
http://www.unicorn-darts.com/news/detail.asp?id=45
DARTS GAINS SPORT ENGLAND RECOGNITION
24 March 2005
Unicorn Darts and the Professional Darts Corporation have welcomed the decision
by Sport England to recognise darts as a sport.
Just 24 hours after three of Team Unicorns’s star players joined over 50 MPs in
a special exhibition organized by the PDC at the Houses of Parliament, Sport
England have announced that they are to officially class darts as a sport.
While Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all need to follow suit with their
support before darts is finally recognized by UK Sport, PDC Chairman Barry Hearn
praised Sport England’s actions.
“I’m delighted,” said Hearn. “It’s the news we have been waiting for and we
believe darts deserves. “It’s great news for our players that they are now
officially seen as proper sportsmen, which is what they deserve for the hard
work and dedication that they show week-in and week-out.
“This will help us continue to take darts to the next level, coming on the back
of the PDC’s tremendously successful exhibition at the House of Commons.
“I’d like to specifically thank Colchester MP Bob Russell for his hard work in
promoting this cause.”
Sport England Chief Executive Roger Draper, announcing the move, said:
"Darts is a sport played by many thousands of people across the country.
"The presentation of darts as a pub game has helped popularise its cult appeal
but the reality is that it is played in locations ranging from schools to
village halls, social clubs and sports centres.
"By taking the lead in recognising the skills and social and community values
associated with darts, we hope others will follow suit in the near future to
complete its formal and official recognition as a sport."
Unicorn’s managing director Edward Lowy is equally enthusiastic:
“We have been at the heart of darts for over 60 years, promoting the sport and
its players throughout the world. This is great news for all connected with
darts and we are particularly pleased for Team Unicorn and all darts players,
who are finally getting the recognition they deserve.”
http://www.smh.com.au/text/articles/2005/03/25/1111692629331.html?oneclick=true
Bending the elbow is officially a sport
Date: March 26 2005
London: When he signed up for a television diet program, he weighed 190
kilograms, drank 25 bottles of beer a day and got out of breath walking down the
street: meet Andy Fordham, the new face of English sport.
Mr Fordham, 42, a contestant on Celebrity Fit Club, on which he struggled to
improve his lifestyle and so far has lost more than 13 kilograms, is a world
champion at darts, which gained official recognition as a sport in England this
week.
Sport England said it was satisfied that darts required the "physical and mental
skills" to qualify as a legitimate sporting activity.
More important for darts players, however, is that it gives them the recognition
they have long believed they deserve, plus the possibility of greater
sponsorship.
"Ninety-five per cent of the public who know anything about darts already
consider it a sport," said Matt Porter, of the Professional Darts Corporation.
The fact that most darts is played in pubs is irrelevant in deciding whether its
players are athletes, Mr Porter explained. "Most local leagues are played in
pubs but that just happens to be the traditional venue of darts. It's a very
social game."
Sport England's decision came after Richard Caborn, the Sports Minister, said
that darts did not involve sufficient "physical training and recreation" to
receive money from sporting bodies.
Mr Porter countered: "If you stood on the stage for as long as those players,
under that much stress and playing for that amount of money, you'd agree darts
is physically demanding."
Darts was the second most popular sport, after football, on television and
played by 3 million people, he said.
Roger Draper, chief executive of Sport England, said the board had looked beyond
the "stereotypical image" of darts.
He said: "The presentation of darts as a pub game has helped to popularise its
cult appeal but the reality is it is a sport played by many thousands across the
country in locations ranging from schools to village halls, social clubs and
sports centres."
Mr Draper said darts would receive no public funding in the immediate future,
because Sport England's four-year funding strategy had recently been confirmed.
The elevated status of darts may have drawbacks, however, for some enthusiasts.
Players are banned from drinking on stage, and there is talk that they could
soon be breath-tested to limit to two pints before a game.
"You try standing there with all those lights and the heat," Mr Fordham said in
an interview. "Shooting is an Olympic sport, so why can't darts be?"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/03/25/ndarts25.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/03/25/ixportal.html
At 30 stone, Andy Fordham is the new face of sport
By Catriona Davies
(Filed: 25/03/2005)
When he signed up for a television diet programme, he weighed 30 stone and drank
25 bottles of lager a day and got out of breath walking down the street: meet
Andy Fordham, the new face of English sport.
Mr Fordham, 42, a contestant on Celebrity Fit Club, on which he struggled to
improve his lifestyle and so far has lost more than two stone, is a world
champion at darts, which gained official recognition as a sport yesterday.
Andy Fordham, athlete
Sport England said it was satisfied that darts required the "physical and mental
skills" to qualify as a legitimate sporting activity.
As far as the Government is concerned, the announcement means that darts
authorities can now take advantage of tax incentives for sports.
More important for darts players, however, is that it gives them the recognition
they long believed they deserve, as well as the possibility of greater
sponsorship.
"Ninety-five per cent of the public who know anything about darts already
consider it a sport," said Matt Porter, of the Professional Darts Corporation.
"This is just powers-that-be taking the time to sit round a table and discuss
it."
The fact that most darts is played in pubs is irrelevant in deciding whether its
players are athletes, explained Mr Porter. "Most local leagues are played in
pubs but that just happens to be the traditional venue of darts. It's a very
social game."
Sport England's decision, which followed a darts exhibition at Parliament, came
after Richard Caborn, the sports minister, said that darts did not involve
sufficient "physical training and recreation" to receive money from sporting
bodies.
Mr Porter countered: "If you stood on the stage for as long as those players,
under that much stress and playing for that amount of money, you'd agree darts
is physically demanding."
Darts was the second most popular sport, after football, on television and
played by three million people.
Roger Draper, chief executive of Sport England, said the board had looked beyond
the "stereotypical image" of darts in making its decision.
He said: "The presentation of darts as a pub game has helped to popularise its
cult appeal but the reality is that it is a sport played by many thousands
across the country in locations ranging from schools to village halls, social
clubs and sports centres."
Mr Draper said darts would receive no public funding in the immediate future, as
Sport England's four-year funding strategy had recently been confirmed.
The elevated status of darts may have drawbacks, however, for some enthusiasts.
Players are already banned from drinking on stage, and there is talk that they
could soon be breathalysed to limit them to two pints before a game. "An
increasing number of players are shying away from drinking anyway," said Mr
Porter.
Bob Russell, a Liberal Democrat MP who has campaigned for darts to be recognised,
said sports bodies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland would have to follow
suit for the new status to be complete.
"It's already recognised as a sport in other countries. It's a popular activity
around the world."
Mr Fordham, who once had to retire from a game with heat exhaustion, said in a
recent interview: "You try standing there with all those lights and the heat.
Shooting is an Olympic sport, so why can't darts be?"